Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Paroxysm
Par′ox-ysm
,Noun.
[F.
paroxysme
, Gr. [GREEK], fr. [GREEK] to sharpen, irritate; παρά
beside, beyond + [GREEK] to sharpen, from [GREEK] sharp.] 1.
(Med.)
The fit, attack, or exacerbation, of a disease that occurs at intervals, or has decided remissions or intermissions.
Arbuthnot.
2.
Any sudden and violent emotion; spasmodic passion or action; a convulsion; a fit.
The returning
paroxysms
of diffidence and despair. South.
Webster 1828 Edition
Paroxysm
PAR'OXYSM
,Noun.
Definition 2024
paroxysm
paroxysm
English
Noun
paroxysm (plural paroxysms)
- A random or sudden outburst (of activity).
- 1903, Jack London, The Call of the Wild
- Unable to turn his back on the fanged danger and go on, the bull would be driven into paroxysms of rage.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 23, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.
- 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
- «There, on the soft sand, a few feet away from our elders, we would sprawl all morning, in a petrified paroxysm of desire, and take advantage of every blessed quirk in space and time to touch each other […] »
- 1983, John Fowles, Mantissa
- Indeed in his excitement at this breakthrough he inadvertently dug his nails into the nurse's bottom, a gesture she misinterpreted, so that he had to suffer a paroxysm of breasts and loins in response.
- 1903, Jack London, The Call of the Wild
- An explosive event during a volcanic eruption.
- A sudden recurrence of a disease, such as a seizure or a coughing fit.
Translations
random or sudden outburst
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sudden recurrence of a disease
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