spasm

noun

ˈspa-zəm 

1

: an involuntary and abnormal muscular contraction

2

: a sudden violent and temporary effort, emotion, or sensation

a spasm of creativity

spasms of pain

spasm intransitive verb

Synonyms of spasm

• cramp

Examples of spasm in a Sentence

a disease that causes muscle spasms

He was racked with coughing spasms.

She was suffering spasms of guilt.

Recent Examples on the Web

Witt dealt with back spasms and a knee sprain during the summer. — Kansas City Star, 29 Sep. 2026

At 8 months, the child was also diagnosed with infantile epileptic spasms syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. — Inaya Folarin Iman, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026

Seventeen safety incidents were logged, eight tied directly to the device, mostly skin irritation and muscle spasms, plus one fall with no injury. — New Atlas, 27 Sep. 2026

Tua Tagovailoa was slated to start the season and then started having oblique spasms days before the opener and also missed those two games. — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English spasme, from Anglo-French espasme, from Latin spasmus, from Greek spasmos, from span to draw, pull

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for spasm

• bronchospasm
• cytoplasm
• ectoplasm
• neoplasm
• protoplasm
• vasospasm
• chasm
• chiasm
• nazim
• plasm
• enthusiasm
• iconoclasm

Kids Definition

spasm

noun

ˈspaz-əm 

1

: a sudden uncontrolled contracting of muscles

back spasms

2

: a sudden violent and temporary effort, emotion, or outburst

a spasm of creativity

spasm verb

Medical Definition

spasm

noun

ˈspaz-əm 

1

: an involuntary and abnormal contraction of muscle or muscle fibers or of a hollow organ (as an artery, the colon, or the esophagus) that consists largely of involuntary muscle fibers

2

: the state or condition of a muscle or organ affected with spasms

the renal artery went into spasm