ˈtet ə nəs sometimes -tnəs noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, from Greek tetanos, from tetanos rigid, stretched, from teinein to stretch — more at thin
1.
a. : an acute infectious disease characterized by tonic spasm of voluntary muscles and especially of the muscles of the jaw and caused by the specific toxin produced by the tetanus bacillus which is usually introduced through a wound — see lockjaw
b. or tetanus bacillus : the bacterium ( Clostridium tetani ) that causes tetanus
2. : prolonged contraction of a muscle resulting from a series of motor impulses following one another too rapidly to permit intervening relaxation of the muscle — compare contracture