Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A sudden outburst of emotion or action.
- noun A sudden attack, recurrence, or intensification of a disease.
- noun A spasm or fit; a convulsion.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In medicine, a fit of any disease; periodical exacerbation of a disease.
- noun Hence Any sudden and violent action; spasmodic affection or action; convulsion; fit.
- noun Figuratively, a quarrel.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) The fit, attack, or exacerbation, of a disease that occurs at intervals, or has decided remissions or intermissions.
- noun Any sudden and violent emotion; spasmodic passion or action; a convulsion; a fit.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
random orsudden outburst (of activity). - noun An
explosive event during avolcanic eruption. - noun A sudden recurrence of a
disease .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a sudden uncontrollable attack
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Her innards were in paroxysm, violently expelling what they no longer recognized as food.
Hungry Daniel Passamaneck 2010
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Her innards were in paroxysm, violently expelling what they no longer recognized as food.
cravings Daniel Passamaneck 2010
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The Greek word is the root of the English word paroxysm, which in medicine can stand for a seizure.
Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] TerryH 2010
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The Greek word is the root of the English word paroxysm, which in medicine can stand for a seizure.
Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] TerryH 2010
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The Greek word is the root of the English word paroxysm, which in medicine can stand for a seizure.
Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] TerryH 2010
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The Greek word is the root of the English word paroxysm, which in medicine can stand for a seizure.
Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] TerryH 2010
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That is the basic joke of this very funny play: we modern, knowing libertines, entirely familiar with orgasms, watching repressed Victorians clinically discussing the heretofore unknown phenomenon they term a paroxysm, all thanks to Mr. Edison’s wondrous new discovery, electricity.
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That is the basic joke of this very funny play: we modern, knowing libertines, entirely familiar with orgasms, watching repressed Victorians clinically discussing the heretofore unknown phenomenon they term a paroxysm, all thanks to Mr. Edison’s wondrous new discovery, electricity.
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To be sure I had passed through what I may call a paroxysm of Alexander Smith, a poet deeply unknown to the present generation, but then acclaimed immortal by all the critics, and put with Shakespeare, who must be a good deal astonished from time to time in his Elysian quiet by the companionship thrust upon him.
My Literary Passions William Dean Howells 1878
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To be sure I had passed through what I may call a paroxysm of Alexander Smith, a poet deeply unknown to the present generation, but then acclaimed immortal by all the critics, and put with Shakespeare, who must be a good deal astonished from time to time in his Elysian quiet by the companionship thrust upon him.
Literature and Life (Complete) William Dean Howells 1878
brtom commented on the word paroxysm
"(Stamps her jingling spurs in a sudden paroxysm of sudden fury.)"
Joyce, Ulysses, 15
February 8, 2007
renumeratedfrog commented on the word paroxysm
"Her sudden paroxysm took me completely by surprise and trapped me in a tangle of her cramped muscles, unable to pull out."
August 20, 2008
wackyvorlon commented on the word paroxysm
renumeratedfrog, your quote amuses me greatly.
September 24, 2008
Louises commented on the word paroxysm
The weeks of passivity caught up with me and yanked me to my feet in a contained paroxysm of self-disgust. From "The Last Werewolf" by Glen Duncan.
March 3, 2012