tetanic

American  

[tuh-tan-ik] / təˈtæn ɪk /

Sometimes tetanical

adjective

1. Pathology. pertaining to, of the nature of, or characterized by tetanus.

2. Medicine/Medical. noting a medicine or poison that can cause tetanic spasms of the muscles.

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tetanic British  

/ təˈtænɪk /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or producing tetanus or the spasms of tetanus

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noun

1. a tetanic drug or agent

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subtetanic
  adjective
• posttetanic
  adjective
• subtetanical
  adjective
• tetanically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of tetanic

1720–30; < Latin tetanicus < Greek tetanikós, equivalent to tétan ( os ) spasm, tetanus + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

There is then considerable abdominal pain and there may be cramps in the legs and other nervous phenomena, such as convulsions, and even lockjaw or other kinds of tetanic spasms.

From Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. by Atkinson, George Francis

There is no tetanic phase, being, as I apprehend, a condition almost reverse in objective symptoms to hydrocyanic acid or strychnia.

From New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers by Anshutz, Edward Pollock

The spasmodic spells alluded to were of a tetanic nature, the body being thrown backward; his head and eyes continued to be turned to the left, and nothing could attract the child’s attention.

From History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present Moral and Physical Reasons for its Performance by Remondino, Peter Charles

The wound must be purified in the usual way, and all instruments and appliances used for operations on tetanic patients must be immediately sterilised by prolonged boiling.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Thomson, Alexis

In two cases which we witnessed of individuals poisoned by strychnine, similar tetanic phenomena were observed.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 383, September 1847 by Various