Definition of "syncope" []

• Grammar The shortening of a word by omission of a sound, letter, or syllable from the middle of the word; for example, bos'n for boatswain. (noun)
• Pathology A brief loss of consciousness caused by a temporary deficiency of oxygen in the brain; a swoon. See Synonyms at blackout. (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.

• "Near-syncope is light-headedness due to the same cause."
• "For musicians, syncope is a rhythmic form that subverts the order of stress in the bar and puts stress on what is regularly unstressed."
• "In a 1949 article in the New Yorker (now the Nyawka), John Davenport commented on “Slurvian,” the language of what linguists call syncope (“SING-kuh-pee”)."