Medical Dictionary
tetanus
noun tet·a·nus \ˈtet-ən-əs, ˈtet-nəs\
Medical Definition of TETANUS
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 a bacterium of the genus Clostridium (C. tetani) which is usually introduced through a wound—compare lockjaw b : tetanus bacillus
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
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