Crossword clues for spastic
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Spastic \Spas"tic\, a. [L. spasticus, Gr. ?, fr. ? to draw: cf. F. spastique. See Spasm.] (Med.) Of or pertaining to spasm; spasmodic; especially, pertaining to tonic spasm; tetanic.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1753, from Latin spasticus, from Greek spastikos "afflicted with spasms," literally "drawing, pulling, stretching," from span "draw up" (see spasm (n.)). The noun meaning "a person affected with spastic paralysis" is attested from 1896, used insultingly by 1960s. Related: Spastically; spasticity.
Wiktionary
a. 1 (context pathology English) Of, relating to, or affected by spasm. 2 (context pathology English) Of or relating to spastic paralysis. 3 (context slang pejorative English) clumsy. 4 (context slang pejorative English) hyperactive, excited, and acting in a random manner. n. 1 (lb en now offensive especially in the UK) A person affected by spastic paralysis or spastic cerebral palsy. 2 (context slang offensive especially in the UK English) A stupid, clumsy person.
WordNet
n. a person suffering from spastic paralysis
adj. relating to or characterized by spasm; "a spastic colon"; "spastic paralysis is a spastic form of cerebral palsy"
suffering from spastic paralysis; "a spastic child"
affected by involuntary jerky muscular contractions; resembling a spasm; "convulsive motions"; "his body made a spasmodic jerk"; "spastic movements" [syn: convulsive, spasmodic]
Wikipedia
Derived via Latin from the Greek spastikos ("drawing in" or "tugging"), the word spastic refers to an alteration in muscle tone affected by the medical condition spasticity, which is seen in spastic diplegia and many other forms of cerebral palsy and also in terms such as " spastic colon".
Colloquially, spastic can be pejorative; although the origin of the term is common, awareness of this differs between the United States and the United Kingdom. In the UK "spastic" is more widely acknowledged by the general population as an offensive way to directly refer to disabled people.
Usage examples of "spastic".
I wrap my arms around the spastic matter that twitches in my midriff as they begin to herd us.
Mostly they talked big-worded medical nomenclature, things like anterior poliomyelitis and spastic paraplegia due to bilateral cerebral lesion.
A group of civilians caromed out with the spastic overcorrections of folk who thought of gravity, not inertia, when they moved.
Out beyond the campus was a world full of blacks and Jews and spastics and neurotics and homosexuals and other misfits, but I had come up three cherries on the great slot machine of life and I was proud of my luck.
I duck from beneath the spastic neon of a porno parlour, spotlit and anonymous, and there she is, eating popcorn or chestnuts from a paper cone.
Certain diseases plague women (thyroid & bladder disorders, anemias, spastic colon, varicose veins, migraines, gallstones, arthritis, asthma) but men have deadlier problems (heart disease, strokes, emphysema) and more visual-hearing defects.
And, with broom profits, Castor Buntline and his spastic son Elihu went carpetbagging, became tobacco kings.
McCain has white hair (premature, from Hoa Lo) and dark eyebrows, and a pink scalp under something that isn't quite a combover, and kind of chubby cheeks, and in a regular analog Fast Forward you'd expect his face to look silly, the way everybody on film looks spastic and silly when they're FF'd.
Perhaps someone with spastic dysphonia in his differential diagnosis.
With all the contradictory impulses in the loop, nothing was accomplished, and the two could only flail about in chaos, their spastic motions cycling through a Wrestle-mania strange attractor.
With all the contradictory impulses in the loop, nothing was accomplished, and the two could only flail about in chaos, their spastic motions cycling through a Wrestle-mania strange artractor.
Dulcie looked up through the flurrying petals, trying to ignore the disturbing spectacle of a thousand blank-eyed, sandaled priests doing a spastic soft-shoe.
Its initial fumblings had been the spastic kicking of the newborn, but now it was warm and safe and desired only to rest.
Just then a maggot crawled out of his gaping mouth, doing a spastic little Lindy Hop on the tip of his tongue.
It sent waves of transforming current through thickly insulated cables, towards Andrej, who rolled and jack-knifed in spastic terror and pain.