paroxysm \PAIR-uhk-siz-uhm\, noun: 1. (Medicine) A sudden attack, intensification, or recurrence of a disease. But when he's on target -- and more often than not he is -- he can send you into paroxysms of laughter. Dickens had a paroxysm of rage: 'Bounding up from his chair, and throwing his knife and fork on his plate (which he smashed to atoms), he exclaimed: "Dolby! your infernal caution will be your ruin one of these days!"' Mrs. Bumble, seeing at a glance that the decisive moment had now arrived, and that a blow struck for mastership on one side or another, must necessarily be final and conclusive, dropped into a chair, and with a loud scream that Mr. Bumble was a hard-hearted brute, fell into a paroxysm of tears. Paroxysm is from Greek paroxusmos, from paroxunein, "to irritate, provoke or excite (literally to sharpen excessively)," from para-, "beyond" + oxunein, "to sharpen, to provoke." Read the full entry | See synonyms | Comment on today's word | Suggest tomorrow's word | |||||||||
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