Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Displaying 1 result(s) from the 1913 edition:

Paroxysm (Page: 1044)

Par"ox*ysm (?), n. [F. paroxysme, Gr. , fr. to sharpen, irritate; beside, beyond + to sharpen, from sharp.]

1. (Med.) The fit, attack, or exacerbation, of a disease that occurs at intervals, or has decided remissions or intermissions. Arbuthnot.

2. Any sudden and violent emotion; spasmodic passion or action; a convulsion; a fit.

The returning paroxysms of diffidence and despair. South.