Tetanus is a noun with two related but distinctclearly separate and not the same as something else medical meanings. In everyday use, it usually refers to the serious bacterialcaused by tiny living organisms that can make people ill infection commonly called lockjaw. It can also mean a sustainedlasting for a period of time without stopping muscle contraction caused by repeated nerve impulses.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Pronunciation
AI-generated pronunciation audio (OpenAI).
Accent: General American English
IPA: /ˈtɛtənəs/
Easy pronunciation: TET-uh-nus (approximate spelling).
Stress: Stress the first syllable.
Use the noun meaning a serious bacterial infection that can cause lockjaw and muscle spasms, not the muscle-contraction sense.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: uncertain — manual review needed. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Tetanus Meaning
a dangerous infection that can cause lockjaw and muscle spasms
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A serious bacterial infection that affects the nervous system and can cause painful muscle spasms, especially in the jaw.
Example: The doctor gave her a tetanus shot after the cut on her hand.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- lockjaw — Common name for the infection; a true synonym in this sense.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Other Meanings of Tetanus
Meaning 2
a muscle staying tightly contracted because of repeated nerve signals
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A sustained muscle contraction caused by a rapid series of nerve impulses.
Example: The experiment triggered tetanus in the muscle fibers.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Tetanus Synonyms
Similar Meaning
- lockjaw
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Common Mistakes
- People sometimes use tetanus to mean the same thing as a tetanus shot. The shot is a vaccine that helps prevent tetanus; it is not the disease itself.
- The medical condition tetanus is sometimes casually called lockjaw, but the word does not mean any jaw problem in general.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the meaning of tetanus?
Tetanus usually means a serious bacterial infection that can cause painful muscle spasms and lockjaw. It can also refer to a sustained muscle contraction caused by repeated nerve impulses in physiology.
What are synonyms for tetanus?
For the infection sense, the main synonym is lockjaw. The physiological sense is technical and does not have a common everyday synonym.
Is tetanus the same as lockjaw?
In common usage, yes: lockjaw is a common name for the infection tetanus. But tetanus can also mean a different physiological phenomenon in medicine and biology.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
