lickjaw

1 definition found

lickjaw - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Tetanus \Tet"a*nus\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? stretched, ? to
     stretch.]
     1. (Med.) A painful and usually fatal disease, resulting
        generally from a wound, and having as its principal
        symptom persistent spasm of the voluntary muscles. When
        the muscles of the lower jaw are affected, it is called
        locked-jaw, or lickjaw, and it takes various names
        from the various incurvations of the body resulting from
        the spasm.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Physiol.) That condition of a muscle in which it is in a
        state of continued vibratory contraction, as when
        stimulated by a series of induction shocks.
        [1913 Webster]