spasm

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a painful and involuntary muscular contraction
  2. noun (pathology) sudden constriction of a hollow organ (as a blood vessel)

Etymology

From Middle English spasme, from Old French spasme, from Latin spasmus, from Ancient Greek σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm, convulsion”), from σπάω (spáō, “to draw out, pull out”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

cramp, muscle spasm

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