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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.
[Gr. to excite or sharpen; and sharp.] An exasperation or exacerbation of a disease; a fit of higher excitement or violence in a disease that has remissions or intermissions; as the paroxysm of a fever or gout.

Definition 2024


paroxysm

paroxysm

English

Noun

paroxysm (plural paroxysms)

  1. 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.
  2. An explosive event during a volcanic eruption.
  3. A sudden recurrence of a disease, such as a seizure or a coughing fit.

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