Definition of "tetany" []

• An abnormal condition characterized by periodic painful muscular spasms and tremors, caused by faulty calcium metabolism and associated with diminished function of the parathyroid glands. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Experiments on animals, which proved more sensitive to loss of the parathyroids than men were, showed that muscles tightened convulsively, a situation called tetany (tet'uh-nee; "stretch" G)."
• "Hypocalcemic tetany as an early sign of DiGeorge syndrome in adult woman."
• "You could actually feel the delicious muscle tetany spasming through Clegg's jaw as he fought to control the Coitus reservatus for after PMQs."