1
as in cramp
a painful sudden tightening of a muscle
he suffers terribly from back spasms
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in burst
a sudden intense expression of strong feeling
a spasm of love that he had never experienced before
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spasm
Wagler, the three-time Big Ten freshman of the week, was battling back spasms.
—
Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 15 Jan. 2026
Hart entered the season wearing a splint on his right ring finger, dealt with lower back spasms in the preseason opener, then badly sprained his ankle on Christmas — a setback that cost him nearly three weeks and eight games.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 14 Jan. 2026
Starting 5 About an hour prior to tip-off, the Magic ruled out forward Tristan da Silva due to back spasms.
—Jason Beede, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2026
Pueblo lands had witnessed spasms of brutal violence since Spanish colonizers arrived at the end of the 16th century.
—Peter C. Mancall, The Conversation, 9 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spasm
Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 15 Jan. 2026
Hart entered the season wearing a splint on his right ring finger, dealt with lower back spasms in the preseason opener, then badly sprained his ankle on Christmas — a setback that cost him nearly three weeks and eight games.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 14 Jan. 2026
Starting 5 About an hour prior to tip-off, the Magic ruled out forward Tristan da Silva due to back spasms.
—Jason Beede, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2026
Pueblo lands had witnessed spasms of brutal violence since Spanish colonizers arrived at the end of the 16th century.
—Peter C. Mancall, The Conversation, 9 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spasm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spasm
Noun
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The Jayhawks were down to basically five players the final 20 minutes because of the recurring cramps issue that limited Darryn Peterson to 3 minutes, 14 seconds of play in the second half and what’s believed to be a knee bruise that benched Elmarko Jackson the entire second half.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
1 Feb. 2026
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After two riveting semifinals, in which Alcaraz managed cramps and a rising Alexander Zverev to win in five sets, before Djokovic stunned Jannik Sinner with a crashing baseline performance, fate has delivered a simple equation.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Richard, who had 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in the opening quarter, hit a three-pointer and had an assist in the Tigers' closing burst.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
2 Feb. 2026
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Also, some bursts showed strong circular polarization, a signal characteristic of magnetic processes.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Video footage that appeared to be taken at the scene captured loud blasts and the sky glowing following explosions that began around midnight and lasted about two hours in the area of Diori Hamani International Airport.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
31 Jan. 2026
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An explosion was reported at a metal fabricating plant on Thursday night in Pennsylvania, according to officials.—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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After five straight losses and nearly four weeks without scoring more than three goals, a six-goal outburst was obviously cathartic in the penultimate game before the Olympic break.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
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The scoring outburst from Wilcher proved particularly welcomed, Miller said.—
Thomas Jones,
Austin American Statesman,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Perhaps a cataclysm—an earthquake, a volcanic eruption—had driven those people away.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
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The eight main islands were formed by eruptions, landslides and erosion over thousands of years.—
Emily Price,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
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To the museum board, this seemed like a poor allocation of resources; certainly the guards or docents could instruct people on flash usage.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
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There were a lot of flash bulbs and a lot of darkness.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Blast of Arctic cold on Saturday The WJZ First Alert Weather Team has upgraded Saturday to a First Alert Weather Day for strong, powerful wind gusts, numbing temperatures, and dangerously low wind-chills.—
Steven Sosna,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
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Sustained, strong winds with even stronger gusts are happening.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spasm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spasm. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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