spasm
/ˈspæz.m̩/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.83 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ.
noun
A violent, excruciating seizure of pain.
Example Sentences
- "Jessica went into spasms after eating a peanut."
- "He would use the simplest, plainest language, he said to himself over and over again; but it is not always easy to use simple, plain language,—by no means so easy as to mount on stilts, and to march along with sesquipedalian words, with pathos, spasms, and notes of interjection."
- "Both Spear & Davis were indicted in the witchhunt surrounding the sensational (if nonexistent) "Revere sex ring." Both men have said they have been police targets since at least 1975, following the anti-gay spasm which ensued after Dick Bavely's suicide."
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: spasme, spasmus, σπασμός