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A contraction of syllables by suppressing some vowel or diphthong at the end of a word, before another vowel or diphthong; as, th' army, for the army. [Written also synaloepha.]

The act of syncopating; the contraction of a word by taking one or more letters or syllables from the middle; syncope.

A contraction of two syllables into one; synizesis.

A contraction of two syllables into one; synecphonesis.

Capable of, or taking place by, alternate contraction and dilatation; as, the systaltic action of the heart.

The contraction of the heart and arteries by which the blood is forced onward and the circulation kept up; -- correlative to diastole.

Of or pertaining to systole, or contraction; contracting; esp., ralating to the systole of the heart; as, systolic murmur. Dunglison.

A colloquial contraction of the other, and formerly a contraction for that other. See the Note under That, 2. The tothir that was crucifield with him. Wyclif(John xix. 32)

p. p. of Ta, to take, or a contraction of Taken. [Poetic & Scot.] Burns.

Giving the sensation of tension, stiffness, or contraction. A tensive pain from distension of the parts. Floyer.

f or pertaining to tetanus; having the character of tetanus; as, a tetanic state; tetanic contraction. This condition of muscle, this fusion of a number of simple spasms into an apparently smooth, continuous effort, is known as tetanus, or tetanic contraction. Foster.

To throw, as a muscle, into a state of permanent contraction; to cause tetanus in. See Tetanus, n., 2.

That condition of a muscle in which it is in a state of continued vibratory contraction, as when stimulated by a series of induction shocks.

Influenced in its contraction by heat or cold; -- said of a muscle.

An affection apparently congenital, consisting in tonic contraction and stiffness of the voluntary muscles occurring after a period of muscular inaction.

A contraction of Through.

A common contraction of it is.

The state of healty tension or partial contraction of muscle fibers while at rest; tone; tonus.

Cylindrical with alternate swellings and contractions; having the surface covered with rounded prominences.

A contraction of it was.