English > muscle spasm: 1 sense > noun 1, state| Meaning | A painful and involuntary muscular contraction. |
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| Synonyms | spasm, cramp |
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| Narrower | blepharospasm | spasm of the eyelid muscle resulting in closure of the eye |
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| charley horse, charley-horse | A muscular cramp (especially in the thigh or calf) following vigorous exercise |
| crick, kink, rick, wrick | A painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back ('rick' and 'wrick' are British) |
| myoclonus | A clonic spasm of a muscle or muscle group |
| opisthotonos | severe spasm in which the back arches and the head bends back and heels flex toward the back |
| tenesmus | Painful spasm of the anal sphincter along with an urgent desire to defecate without the significant production of feces |
| trismus | prolonged spasm of the jaw muscles |
| twitch, twitching, vellication | A sudden muscle spasm |
| writer's cramp, graphospasm | muscular spasms of thumb and forefinger while writing with a pen or pencil |
| Broader | symptom | (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease |
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| Spanish | calambrazo, calambre, espasmo muscular, espasmo, punzada |
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| Catalan | espasme, rampa |
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