Latimer.
Te*tan"ic (?), a. [Cf. L. tetanicus suffering from tetanus, Gr. &?;, F.
tétanique.] 1. (Physiol.) Of or pertaining to tetanus; having the
character of tetanus; as, a tetanic state; tetanic contraction.
This condition of muscle, this fusion of a number of simple spasms into
an apparently smooth, continuous effort, is known as tetanus, or
tetanic contraction.
Foster.
2. (Physiol. & Med.) Producing, or tending to produce, tetanus, or
tonic contraction of the muscles; as, a tetanic remedy. See Tetanic, n.
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Te*tan"ic (?), n. (Physiol. & Med.) A substance (notably nux vomica,
strychnine, and brucine) which, either as a remedy or a poison, acts
primarily on the spinal cord, and which, when taken in comparatively
large quantity, produces tetanic spasms or convulsions.
Tet"a*nin (?), n. (Physiol. Chem.) A poisonous base (ptomaine) formed
in meat broth through the agency of a peculiar microbe from the wound
of a person who has died of tetanus; — so called because it produces
tetanus as one of its prominent effects.
Tet`a*ni*za"tion (?), n. (Physiol.) The production or condition of
tetanus.
Tet"a*nize (?), v. t. (Physiol.) To throw, as a muscle, into a state of
permanent contraction; to cause tetanus in. See Tetanus, n., 2.
Tet"a*noid (?), a. [Tetanus + - oid.] (Med. & Physiol.) Resembling
tetanus.
Tet`a*no*mo"tor (?), n. (Physiol.) An instrument from tetanizing a
muscle by irritating its nerve by successive mechanical shocks.
||Tet"a*nus (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; stretched, &?; to
||stretch.] 1. (Med.) A painful and usually fatal disease, resulting
||generally from a wound, and having as its principal symptom
||persistent spasm of the voluntary muscles. When the muscles of the
||lower jaw are affected, it is called locked-jaw, or lickjaw, and it
||takes various names from the various incurvations of the body
||resulting from the spasm.
||
2. (Physiol.) That condition of a muscle in which it is in a state of
continued vibratory contraction, as when stimulated by a series of
induction shocks.
Tet"a*ny (?), n. (Med.) A morbid condition resembling tetanus, but
distinguished from it by being less severe and having intermittent
spasms.
Te*tard" (?), n. (Zoöl.) A gobioid fish (Eleotris gyrinus) of the
Southern United States; — called also sleeper.
Te*tar`to*he"dral (?), a. [Gr. &?; fourth + &?; base.] (Crystallog.)
Having one fourth the number of planes which are requisite to complete
symmetry. — Te*tar`to*he"dral*ly, adv.
Te*tar`to*he"drism (?), n. (Crystallog.) The property of being
tetartohedral.