Meaning | (physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber). |
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Synonyms | contraction, muscular contraction |
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Category | physiology | The branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms |
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Narrower | Braxton-Hicks contraction, false labor | painless contractions of the muscles of the uterus that continue throughout pregnancy with increasing frequency |
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contracture | An abnormal and usually permanent contraction of a muscle |
tetanus | A sustained muscular contraction resulting from a rapid series of nerve impulses |
uterine contraction | A rhythmic tightening in labor of the upper uterine musculature that contracts the size of the uterus and pushes the fetus toward the birth canal |
vaginismus | muscular contraction that causes the vagina to close |
Broader | shortening | Act of decreasing in length |
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Spanish | contracción muscular, contracción |
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Catalan | contracció muscular, contracció |
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