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Not under the influence or control of the will; not voluntary; as, the involuntary movements of the body; involuntary muscle fibers.

state or quality of being automatic; the power of self- moving; automatic, mechanical, or involuntary action. (Metaph.) A theory as to the activity of matter.

g bound; condition of being under restraint; restraint of personal liberty by compulsion; involuntary servitude; slavery; captivity. The King, when he designed you for my guard, Resolved he would not make my bondage hard. Dryden.

St. Vitus's dance; a disease attended with convulsive twitchings and other involuntary movements of the muscles or limbs.

A spasmodic and painful involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles, as of the leg. The cramp, divers nights, gripeth him in his legs. Sir T. More. Cramp bone, the patella of a sheep; -- formerly used as a charm for the cramp. Halliwell. "He could turn cramp bones into chess men." Dickens. -- Cramp ring, a ring for…

An involuntary discharge of watery humors from the eyes; wateriness of the eyes. [Obs.] Bailey.

An involuntary discharge of urine; incontinence of urine.

established custom; ordinary course of conduct; practice; usage; hence, prominently, the involuntary tendency or aptitude to perform certain actions which is acquired by their frequent repetition; as, habit is second nature; also, peculiar ways of acting; characteristic forms of behavior. A man of very shy, retired ha…

Done by express direction; not involuntary; communded. [Obs.] Those imperate acts, wherein we see the empire of the soul. Sir M. Hale.

any of the animal organs to restrain the natural evacuations, so that the discharges are involuntary; as, incontinence of urine.

Natural inward impulse; unconscious, involuntary, or unreasoning prompting to any mode of action, whether bodily, or mental, without a distinct apprehension of the end or object to be accomplished. An instinct is a propensity prior to experience, and independent of instructions. Paley. An instinct is a blind tendency t…

In an involuntary manner; not voluntarily; not intentionally or willingly.

The quality or state of being involuntary; unwillingness; automatism.

fusedly; to blend or merge. [R.] The gathering number, as it moves along, Involves a vast involuntary throng. Pope. Earth with hell To mingle and involve. Milton.

o or identical with miryachit and jumping disease, the person affected performing various involuntary actions and making rapid inarticulate ejaculations in imitation of the actions and words of another person.

A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the face, particularly of the lips, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction, or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. See Laugh, v. i. The act of laughter, which is a sweet contr…

Slavery; involuntary servitude. [Obs.] Johnson.

vement; the passing of a body from one place or position to another, whether voluntary or involuntary; -- opposed to rest. Speaking or mute, all comeliness and grace attends thee, and each word, each motion, forms. Milton.

of choice, of discovering the whereabouts of hidden objects, etc., by inference from the involuntary movements of one whose hand the reader holds or with whom he is otherwise in muscular contact.

Acting from necessity or compulsion; involuntary; -- opposed to free; as, whether man is a necessary or a free agent is a question much discussed.