[tet.a.nus] n [ME, fr. L, fr. Gk tetanos, fr. tetanos stretched, rigid; akin to Gk teinein to stretch--more at thin] (14c) 1 a: an acute infectious disease characterized by tonic spasm of voluntary muscles esp. of the jaw and caused by the specific toxin of a bacterium (Clostridium tetani) which is usu. introduced through a wound--compare lockjaw b: the bacterium that causes tetanus
2: prolonged contraction of a muscle resulting from rapidly repeated motor impulses