Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Loss or impairment of the ability to move a body part, usually as a result of damage to its nerve supply.
- noun Loss of sensation over a region of the body.
- noun Inability to move or function; total stoppage or severe impairment of activity.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The impairment of the normal capacity of the nervous system for bringing into action one or more active organs, muscular or glandular, or for receiving impressions along one or more sensory paths.
- noun Figuratively, loss of energy; loss of the power of performing regular functions; the state of being crippled, as in an emergency, or helpless amid any circumstances.
- noun Paralysis due to an encephalic lesion.
- noun Muscular pseudohypertrophy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) Abolition of function, whether complete or partial; esp., the loss of the power of voluntary motion, with or without that of sensation, in any part of the body; palsy. See
hemiplegia , andparaplegia . Also used figuratively.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun pathology The complete loss of voluntary control of part of person's body, such as one or more
limbs .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun loss of the ability to move a body part
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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_ -- In complete unilateral _facial paralysis_ (Bell's paralysis) the affected side of the face is expressionless and devoid of voluntary or emotional movement.
Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. Alexander Miles 1893
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The term paralysis has generally been used to express the loss of voluntary motion, as in the hemiplagia, but may with equal propriety be applied to express the disobediency of the muscular fibres to the other kinds of stimulus; as to those of irritation or sensation.
Zoonomia, Vol. I Or, the Laws of Organic Life Erasmus Darwin 1766
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I mean, the paralysis is the fact that they don't have a government, therefore no legislation is going forward in the parliament.
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The next day, G. W. Smith had made fumbling and overcautious efforts to continue the battle and, on June 2, had suffered an illness which he described as paralysis.
LEE’S LIEUTENANTS DOUGLAS SOUTHALL FREEMAN 2001
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The next day, G. W. Smith had made fumbling and overcautious efforts to continue the battle and, on June 2, had suffered an illness which he described as paralysis.
LEE’S LIEUTENANTS DOUGLAS SOUTHALL FREEMAN 2001
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The next day, G. W. Smith had made fumbling and overcautious efforts to continue the battle and, on June 2, had suffered an illness which he described as paralysis.
Lee’s Lieutenants Douglas Southall Freeman 1971
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The next day, G. W. Smith had made fumbling and overcautious efforts to continue the battle and, on June 2, had suffered an illness which he described as paralysis.
Lee’s Lieutenants Douglas Southall Freeman 1971
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* The loss of the capacity for motion is referred to as paralysis from a Greek word meaning "to loosen."
The Human Brain Asimov, Isaac 1963
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But this kind of paralysis is a whole new phenomenon.
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Vocal cord paralysis is the second most common congenital defect of the larynx (voice box).
Vocal Cord Paralysis 2010
lweber5@scf.edu commented on the word paralysis
Online Dictionary. The strike caused a paralysis of all shipping.
October 7, 2010