Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An intense, paroxysmal, involuntary muscular contraction.
- noun An uncontrolled fit, as of laughter; a paroxysm.
- noun Violent turmoil.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
laryngismus stridulus . - noun A violent and involuntary contraction of the muscular parts of an animal body, with alternate relaxation; a fit.
- noun Any violent and irregular motion; turmoil; tumult; commotion.
- noun Specifically, in geology, a sudden and violent disturbance and change of position of the strata; a geological event taking place rapidly and at one impulse, instead of slowly and by repeated efforts: nearly the same as
catastrophe or cataclysm. Violent voluntary muscular effort.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) An unnatural, violent, and unvoluntary contraction of the muscular parts of an animal body.
- noun Any violent and irregular motion or agitation; a violent shaking; a tumult; a commotion.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun medicine An intense,
paroxysmal , involuntarymuscular contraction . - noun An uncontrolled fit, as of laughter; a
paroxysm . - noun Violent
turmoil .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a sudden uncontrollable attack
- noun a violent disturbance
- noun a physical disturbance such as an earthquake or upheaval
- noun violent uncontrollable contractions of muscles
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word convulsion.
Examples
-
The book has an epic scope — it is a picture of a planet in convulsion — without foregoing the detail of everyday life or a sense of the moment.
Deals 2010
-
The book has an epic scope — it is a picture of a planet in convulsion — without foregoing the detail of everyday life or a sense of the moment.
A Different Stripe: 2008
-
The book has an epic scope — it is a picture of a planet in convulsion — without foregoing the detail of everyday life or a sense of the moment.
-
In the end, you make the -- we're going through a kind of short-term convulsion, and normal will be what normal was, maybe a titch (ph) different?
-
China, the most populous nation of the globe, was in convulsion, its regime still undecided.
-
_ -- Although there is no disease of the nervous system which can be properly termed convulsive, or justify the use of the word convulsion to indicate any particular disease, yet it is often such a prominent symptom that a few words may not be out of place.
Special Report on Diseases of the Horse Charles B. Michener 1877
-
The highest eulogy that can be pronounced on the intellectual character of a ruler, in times of great civil convulsion, is that it is his policy to have no policy, content with keeping his ship trim as he permits her to sweep downwards with the precipitous torrent.
-
Such a convulsion is the struggle of gradual suffocation, as in drowning; and, in the original Opium Confessions, I mentioned a case of that nature communicated to me by a lady from her own childish experience.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 357, June, 1845 Various
-
The convulsion is a substitute for the criminal act.
-
Most frequently pain of body is the cause of convulsion, which is often however exchanged for madness; and a painful delirious idea is most frequently the cause of madness originally, but sometimes of convulsion.
Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life Erasmus Darwin 1766
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.