tic douloureux

American

[tik doo-luh-roo, teek doo-loo-rœ] / ˈtɪk ˌdu ləˈru, tik du luˈrœ /

noun

Pathology.

paroxysmal darting pain and muscular twitching in the face, evoked by rubbing certain points of the face.

tic douloureux British

/ ˈtɪk ˌduːləˈruː /

noun

Also called: trigeminal neuralgia. a condition of momentary stabbing pain along the trigeminal nerve

"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

Etymology

Origin of tic douloureux

1790–1800; < French: literally, painful tic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

tic douloureux

Cause of tic douloureux is not definitely known.

From Time Magazine Archive

Surgery may also be appropriate in cases of the severe facial pain known as trigeminal neuralgia, or tic douloureux.

From Time Magazine Archive

By doctors and patients familiar with it, tic douloureux or trigeminal neuralgia is considered the most painful of human ills.

From Time Magazine Archive

When Maggs, serving the wine, collapses from the pain of a tic douloureux in his cheek, Oates volunteers to relieve the servant's anguish by mesmerizing, i.e., hypnotizing, him.

From Time Magazine Archive

Aunt Crete was laid up with the tic douloureux.

From A Little Girl in Old New York by Amanda Minnie Douglas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023