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tetanic

[tuh-tan-ik]
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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.Compare tetany.
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Sometimes te·tan·i·cal.

Origin of tetanic

1720–30; < Latin tetanicus < Greek tetanikós, equivalent to tétan(os) spasm, tetanus + -ikos -ic
Related formste·tan·i·cal·ly, adverbpost·te·tan·ic, adjectivesub·te·tan·ic, adjectivesub·te·tan·i·cal, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tetanic

Historical Examples

  • If the tetanic spasms have not commenced, the stomach-pump ought to be used.

    Memoranda on Poisons

    Thomas Hawkes Tanner

  • I fancy, however, that their strength was rather of the tetanic than the titanic sort.

    Literature and Life

    William Dean Howells

  • The patient progressed favorably for some days, when tetanic symptoms appeared, and under these he sank.

  • She was an open car, capable of some eighteen miles on the flat, with tetanic gears and a perpetual palsy.

  • But he could not speak at once; his teeth closed with tetanic force upon each other.

British Dictionary definitions for tetanic

tetanic

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or producing tetanus or the spasms of tetanus
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noun
  1. a tetanic drug or agent
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Derived Formstetanically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
tetanic in Medicine

tetanic

(tĕ-tăn′ĭk)
adj.
  1. Of or causing tetanus or tetany.
  2. Marked by sustained muscular contractions.
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n.
  1. An agent that in poisonous doses produces tonic muscular spasm.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.