Paralysis
[pə'rælɪsɪs] or [pə'ræləsɪs]
Definition
(n.) 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, and Paraplegia. Also used figuratively.
Typist: Randall
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Palsy.
Checked by Felicia
Unserious Contents or Definition
Paralysis is a bad dream, denoting financial reverses and disappointment in literary attainment. To lovers, it portends a cessation of affections.
Typist: Susan
Examples
- As my sword went up to end her horrid career her paralysis left her, and with an ear-piercing shriek she turned to flee. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- In 1826 he was attacked by paralysis, and from then he spent much of his time on the continent, seeking health and strength. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- The lack of water caused not only personal inconvenience and business paralysis, but it occasioned real danger of disease through unflushed sewers and insufficiently drained pipes. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Sir Leicester Dedlock, Baronet, has had a fit--apoplexy or paralysis--and couldn't be brought to, and precious time has been lost. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- He had been struck by paralysis, and had never rallied after the shock. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- No, it is not brave, said Lydgate, but if a man is afraid of creeping paralysis? George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Not paralysis, I hope? Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- We put him to bed; but the paralysis has spread, he has shown no sign of returning consciousness, and I think that we shall hardly find him alive. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- I could but vaguely conjecture the cause of my paralysis, and my only hope lay in that it might pass off as suddenly as it had fallen upon me. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
Typist: Marvin