SPASM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does spasm mean? 

• SPASM (noun)
  The noun SPASM has 2 senses:

1. a painful and involuntary muscular contraction

2. (pathology) sudden constriction of a hollow organ (as a blood vessel)

  Familiarity information: SPASM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPASM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A painful and involuntary muscular contraction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

cramp; muscle spasm; spasm

Hypernyms ("spasm" is a kind of...):

symptom ((medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spasm"):

charley-horse; charley horse (a muscular cramp (especially in the thigh or calf) following vigorous exercise)

graphospasm; writer's cramp (muscular spasms of thumb and forefinger while writing with a pen or pencil)

blepharospasm (spasm of the eyelid muscle resulting in closure of the eye)

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)

twitch; twitching; vellication (a sudden muscle spasm; especially one caused by a nervous condition)

tenesmus (painful spasm of the anal sphincter along with an urgent desire to defecate without the significant production of feces; associated with irritable bowel syndrome)

trismus (prolonged spasm of the jaw muscles)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(pathology) sudden constriction of a hollow organ (as a blood vessel)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("spasm" is a kind of...):

constriction (the action or process of compressing)

Domain category:

pathology (the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spasm"):

bronchospasm (a spasm of the bronchi that makes exhalation difficult and noisy; associated with asthma and bronchitis)

cardiospasm (a spasm of the cardiac sphincter (between the esophagus and the stomach); if the cardiac sphincter does not relax during swallowing the passage of food into the stomach is obstructed)

heave; retch (an involuntary spasm of ineffectual vomiting)

laryngismus (laryngeal spasm caused by the sudden contraction of laryngeal muscles)

 Context examples 

Some nerve problems, arthritis, or cancers can affect the entire arm and cause pain, spasms, swelling and trouble moving.

(Arm Injuries and Disorders, NIH)

Her rage got the better of her again, for a moment; but it passed over her face like a spasm, and left her smiling.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Translocations and mutations involving the gene are associated with X-linked infantile spasm syndrome 2.

(CDKL5 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Causes include atherosclerosis and arterial spasm.

(Coronary Microvascular Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

Muscle cramps are sudden, involuntary contractions or spasms in one or more of your muscles.

(Muscle Cramps, NIH)

A spasm of fear went through him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

This leads to a decrease in stomach secretions, GI motility and GI spasms.

(Belladonna/Phenobarbital, NCI Thesaurus)

As I spoke he gave my wrist a convulsive grip; the smile on his lips froze: apparently a spasm caught his breath.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

With mild sedative properties, centrally acting Chlorzoxazone inhibits muscle spasm at the spinal cord and subcortical levels of the brain.

(Chlorzoxazone/Acetaminophen, NCI Thesaurus)

Spasm of the large- or medium-sized coronary arteries.

(Coronary Vasospasm, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)