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A short, spastic contraction of the fibers or muscles; a simple muscular contraction; as, convulsive twitches; a twitch in the side.

A painful spasmodic contraction of the vagina, often rendering copulation impossible.

n of the veins of the neck in anæmia. -- Venous pulse (Physiol.), the pulse, or rhythmic contraction, sometimes seen in a vein, as in the neck, when there is an obstruction to the passage of blood from the auricles to the ventricles, or when there is an abnormal rigidity in the walls of the greater vessels. There is n…

Contraction for Vingt et un.

The spasmodic contraction of the intestines which causes colic.

A colloquial contraction of was not.

To turn or twist out of shape; esp., to twist or bend out of a flat plane by contraction or otherwise. The planks looked warped. Coleridge. Walter warped his mouth at this To something so mock solemn, that I laughed. Tennyson.

Contraction for we will or we shall. "We'll follow them." Shak.

A contraction of what-ever; -- used in poetry. "Whate'er is in his way." Shak.

A contraction of whatsoever; -- used in poetry. Shak.

A colloquial contraction of woll not. Will not. See Will.

d. James ii. 17. Muscular work (Physiol.), the work done by a muscle through the power of contraction. -- To go to work, to begin laboring; to commence operations; to contrive; to manage. "I 'll go another way to work with him." Shak. -- To set on work, to cause to begin laboring; to set to work. [Obs.] Hooker. -- T…

A small ridge, prominence, or furrow formed by the shrinking or contraction of any smooth substance; a corrugation; a crease; a slight fold; as, wrinkle in the skin; a wrinkle in cloth. "The wrinkles in my brows." Shak. Within I do not find wrinkles and used heart, but unspent youth. Emerson.

twisted or distorted neck; a deformity in which the neck is drawn to one side by a rigid contraction of one of the muscles of the neck; torticollis.