Lockjaw
['lɒkdʒɔː] or ['lɑkdʒɔ]
Definition
(n.) A contraction of the muscles of the jaw by which its motion is suspended; a variety of tetanus.
Inputed by Gavin
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream that you have lockjaw, signifies there is trouble ahead for you, as some person is going to betray your confidence. For a woman to see others with lockjaw, foretells her friends will unconsciously detract from her happiness by assigning her unpleasant tasks. If stock have it, you will lose a friend.
Edited by Lilian
Examples
- I am not reckless enough to try to pronounce it when I am awake, but I make a stagger at it in my dreams, and get up with the lockjaw in the morning. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- He had his foot crushed while laying the foundation of one of the stone piers, and died of lockjaw. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- And then the lockjaw closes down and nips off a couple of the last syllables--but they taste good. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Bacillus of Cholera identified by Koch, Bacillus of Diphtheria by Loeffler, and Bacillus of Lockjaw by Nicolaier. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
Inputed by Allen