spasm

/ˈspæz.m̩/

spasm noun: a sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ.

Noun

spasm (plural spasms)

A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ.
- Jessica went into spasms after eating a peanut.
A violent, excruciating seizure of pain.
A sudden and temporary burst of energy, activity, or emotion.
- 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.1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage
- 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.1981 April 11, Mitzel, “Kopacz Acquitted In Barbre Killing”, in Gay Community News, page 1

Verb

spasm (third-person singular simple present spasms, present participle spasming, simple past and past participle spasmed)

To produce and undergo a spasm or series of spasms.

spasm meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

spasm in Tamil

இசிப்பு, தசைக் கடுஞ் சுரிப்பு, இசிவு, தசை வலித்துடிப்பு, வலியேற்படுத்தும் தசைச் சுருக்கம், பிடிப்பு

spasm in Urdu

اینٹھن

spasm in Bengali

খিঁচুনি, পেশীর আকস্মিক সংকোচন

spasm in Malayalam

കോച്ചൽ, പിടുത്തം, പെട്ടെന്നുള്ള മനഃക്ഷോഭം, ഞരമ്പുവലി, വികാരമൂർച്ഛ

More languagesFewer languages

spasm in Kannada: ಹಠಾತ್ ಸಂಕೋಚನ, ತೀವ್ರ ಸೆಳವು, ಉಕ್ಕಿ ಉಕ್ಕಿ ಬರುವ ದುಃಖೋದ್ರೇಕ, ಹಠಾತ್ತನೆಯ ಕೆರಳುವಿಕೆ
spasm in Punjabi: ਵੱਟ vaṭṭa
spasm in Tagalog: kisay
spasm in Arabic: تَشَنُّج tašannuj
spasm in Vietnamese: co thắt

Examples of spasm in a sentence

The diaphragmatic spasm of his hiccup caused his epiglottis to painfully stopper his windpipe with a loud "hic".
I hear a rustling in the bushes off to my right, and my trigger finger spasms.
I felt my guts spasm, and I knew I wasn't going in.

All 29 example sentences with spasm

Forms of spasm

Noun
plural	spasms
Verb
third-person singular present	spasms
present participle	spasming
past participle	spasmed
past	spasmed

Plural of spasm: spasms

Origin of spasm

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”).

Phrases with spasm

Words that rhyme with spasm

Questions about spasm

What does spasm mean?: Spasm means a sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ.
What is spasm in Tamil?: Spasm in Tamil is இசிப்பு, தசைக் கடுஞ் சுரிப்பு, இசிவு. See Spasm meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is spasm?: Spasm can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce spasm?: Spasm is pronounced /ˈspæz.m̩/.
What is the plural of spasm?: The plural of spasm is spasms.

Words near spasm in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: spasm (page history and authors); spasm (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spasm (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spasm (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spasm (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spasm (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਵੱਟ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-spasm.ogg.

Cite this entry: “spasm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spasm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.