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Tetanus

A painful and usually fatal disease, resulting generally from a wound, and having as its principal symptom persistent spasm of the voluntary muscles. When the muscles of the lower jaw are affected, it is called locked-jaw, or lickjaw, and it takes various names from the various incurvations of the body resulting from the spasm.

Tetany

A morbid condition resembling tetanus, but distinguished from it by being less severe and having intermittent spasms.

Tetard

A gobioid fish (Eleotris gyrinus) of the Southern United States; -- called also sleeper.

Tetartohedral

Having one fourth the number of planes which are requisite to complete symmetry.

Tete

A kind of wig; false hair.

Tete-a-tete

Face to face; privately or confidentially; familiarly.

Tete-de-pont

A work thrown up at the end of a bridge nearest the enemy, for covering the communications across a river; a bridgehead.

Tetel

A large African antelope (Alcelaphus tora). It has widely divergent, strongly ringed horns.

Tether

To confine, as an animal, with a long rope or chain, as for feeding within certain limits.

Tether-ball

A game played with rackets and a ball suspended by a string from an upright pole, the object of each side being to wrap the string around the pole by striking the ball in a direction opposite to the other.

Tethyodea

A division of Tunicata including the common attached ascidians, both simple and compound. Called also Tethioidea.

Tethys

A genus of a large naked mollusks having a very large, broad, fringed cephalic disk, and branched dorsal gills. Some of the species become a foot long and are brilliantly colored.

Tetrabasic

Capable of neutralizing four molecules of a monacid base; having four hydrogen atoms capable of replacement by bases; quadribasic; -- said of certain acids; thus, normal silicic acid, Si(OH)4, is a tetrabasic acid.

Tetrabranchiata

An order of Cephalopoda having four gills. Among living species it includes only the pearly nautilus. Numerous genera and species are found in the fossil state, such as Ammonites, Baculites, Orthoceras, etc.

Tetrabranchiate

Of or pertaining to the Tetrabranchiata. One of the Tetrabranchiata.

Tetrachord

A scale series of four sounds, of which the extremes, or first and last, constituted a fourth. These extremes were immutable; the two middle sounds were changeable.

Tetrachotomous

Having a division by fours; separated into four parts or series, or into series of fours.

Tetracid

Capable of neutralizing four molecules of a monobasic acid; having four hydrogen atoms capable of replacement ba acids or acid atoms; -- said of certain bases; thus, erythrine, C4H6(OH)4, is a tetracid alcohol.

Tetracolon

A stanza or division in lyric poetry, consisting of four verses or lines.

Tetractinellid

Any species of sponge of the division Tetractinellida. Also used adjectively.

Tetractinellida

A division of Spongiae in which the spicules are siliceous and have four branches diverging at right angles. Called also Tetractinellinae.

Tetrad

The number four; a collection of four things; a quaternion.

Tetradactylous

Having, or characterized by, four digits to the foot or hand.

Tetradecane

A light oily hydrocarbon, C14H30, of the marsh-gas series; -- so called from the fourteen carbon atoms in the molecule.

Tetradic

Of or pertaining to a tetrad; possessing or having the characteristics of a tetrad; as, a carbon is a tetradic element.

Tetradite

A person in some way remarkable with regard to the number four, as one born on the fourth day of the month, or one who reverenced four persons in the Godhead.

Tetradymite

A telluride of bismuth. It is of a pale steel-gray color and metallic luster, and usually occurs in foliated masses. Called also telluric bismuth.

Tetradynamia

A Linnaean class of plants having six stamens, four of which are longer than the others.

Tetradynamous Tetradynamian

Belonging to the order Tetradynamia; having six stamens, four of which are uniformly longer than the others.

Tetragon

A plane figure having four sides and angles; a quadrangle, as a square, a rhombus, etc.

Tetragonal

Of or pertaining to a tetragon; having four angles or sides; thus, the square, the parallelogram, the rhombus, and the trapezium are tetragonal fingers.

Tetragrammaton

The mystic number four, which was often symbolized to represent the Deity, whose name was expressed by four letters among some ancient nations; as, the Hebrew JeHoVaH, Greek qeo`s, Latin deus, etc.

Tetragynia

A Linnaean order of plants having four styles.

Tetrahedrite

A sulphide of antimony and copper, with small quantities of other metals. It is a very common ore of copper, and some varieties yield a considerable presentage of silver. Called also gray copper ore, fahlore, and panabase.

Tetrahedron

A solid figure inclosed or bounded by four triangles.

Tetrahexahedron

A solid in the isometric system, bounded by twenty-four equal triangular faces, four corresponding to each face of the cube.

tetrahydrocannabinol

A chemical substance (C21H20O2) which is produced by the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa), and is the physiologically active agent of dried preparations of that plant, called variously marijuana, hashish, ganja, hemp, etc.; also called THC. It causes the euphoric effect for which the preparations are smoked or chewed. It is used in medicine in a purified form as an antiemetic (an antinausea agent), especially in conjunction with chemotherapy of cancer. It occurs primarily as the /1-3,4-trans isomer, also called /9-THC, with small amounts of the /6-3,4-trans isomer detectable at about 1%. It is a controlled substance, classified as a hallucinogen, and its possession or distribution is illegal in almost all states of the United States.

Tetrakosane

A hydrocarbon, C24H50, resembling paraffin, and like it belonging to the marsh-gas series; -- so called from having twenty-four atoms of carbon in the molecule.

Tetralogy

A group or series of four dramatic pieces, three tragedies and one satyric, or comic, piece (or sometimes four tragedies), represented consequently on the Attic stage at the Dionysiac festival.

Tetramera

A division of Coleoptera having, apparently, only four tarsal joints, one joint being rudimentary.

Tetramerous

Having the parts arranged in sets of four; as, a tetramerous flower.

Tetrameter

A verse or line consisting of four measures, that is, in iambic, trochaic, and anapestic verse, of eight feet; in other kinds of verse, of four feet.

Tetramethylene

A hypothetical hydrocarbon, C4H8, analogous to trimethylene, and regarded as the base of well-known series or derivatives. Sometimes, an isomeric radical used to designate certain compounds which are really related to butylene.

Tetramorph

The union of the four attributes of the Evangelists in one figure, which is represented as winged, and standing on winged fiery wheels, the wings being covered with eyes. The representations of it are evidently suggested by the vision of Ezekiel (ch. i.)

Tetrandria

A Linnaean class of plants having four stamens.

Tetraonid

A bird belonging to the tribe of which the genus Tetrao is the type, as the grouse, partridge, quail, and the like. Used also adjectively.

Tetrapetalous

Containing four distinct petals, or flower leaves; as, a tetrapetalous corolla.

Tetraphyllous

Having four leaves; consisting of four distinct leaves or leaflets.

Tetrapla

A Bible consisting of four different Greek versions arranged in four columns by Origen; hence, any version in four languages or four columns.

Tetrapneumona

A division of Arachnida including those spiders which have four lungs, or pulmonary sacs. It includes the bird spiders (Mygale) and the trapdoor spiders. See Mygale.

Tetrapod

An insect characterized by having but four perfect legs, as certain of the butterflies.

Tetrapody

A set of four feet; a measure or distance of four feet.

Tetrarchy

The district under a Roman tetrarch; the office or jurisdiction of a tetrarch; a tetrarchate.

Tetraspore

A nonsexual spore, one of a group of four regularly occurring in red seaweeds.

Tetrastich

A stanza, epigram, or poem, consisting of four verses or lines.

Tetrastyle

Having four columns in front; -- said of a temple, portico, or colonnade. A tetrastyle building.

Tetrasyllable

A word consisting of four syllables; a quadrisyllable.

Tetrathionic

Of, pertaining to, or designating, a thionic derivative, H2S4O6, of sulphuric acid, obtained as a colorless, odorless liquid.

Tetratomic

Consisting of four atoms; having four atoms in the molecule, as phosphorus and arsenic. Having a valence of four; quadrivalent; tetravalent; sometimes, in a specific sense, having four hydroxyl groups, whether acid or basic.

Tetravalence

The quality or state of being tetravalent; quadrivalence.

Tetravalent

Having a valence of four; tetratomic; quadrivalent.

Tetraxile

Having four branches diverging at right angles; -- said of certain spicules of sponges.

Tetrazo-

A combining form (also used adjectively), designating any one of a series of double derivatives of the azo and diazo compounds containing four atoms of nitrogen.

Tetrazole

A crystalline acid substance, CH2N4, which may be regarded as pyrrol in which nitrogen atoms replace three CH groups; also, any of various derivatives of the same.

Tetrazone

Any one of a certain series of basic compounds containing a chain of four nitrogen atoms; for example, ethyl tetrazone, (C2H5)2N.N2.N(C2H5)2, a colorless liquid having an odor of leeks.

Tetrinic

Of, pertaining to, or designating, a complex ketonic acid, C5H6O3, obtained as a white crystalline substance; -- so called because once supposed to contain a peculiar radical of four carbon atoms. Called also acetyl-acrylic acid.

Tetrodon

Any one of numerous species of plectognath fishes belonging to Tetrodon and allied genera. Each jaw is furnished with two large, thick, beaklike, bony teeth.

Tetrodont

Of or pertaining to the tetrodons. A tetrodon.

Tetrol

A hypothetical hydrocarbon, C4H4, analogous to benzene; -- so called from the four carbon atoms in the molecule.

Tetrolic

Of, pertaining to, or designating, an acid, C3H3.CO2H, of the acetylene series, homologous with propiolic acid, obtained as a white crystalline substance.

Tetrose

A monosaccharide derived from a certain alcohol.

Tetroxide

An oxide having four atoms of oxygen in the molecule; a quadroxide; as, osmium tetroxide, OsO4.

Tetryl

Butyl; -- so called from the four carbon atoms in the molecule.

Tetrylene

Butylene; -- so called from the four carbon atoms in the molecule.

Tetter-totter

A certain game of children; seesaw; -- called also titter-totter, and titter-cum-totter.

Tetterous

Having the character of, or pertaining to, tetter.

Tetterwort

A plant used as a remedy for tetter, -- in England the calendine, in America the bloodroot.

Tettigonian

Any one of numerous species of Hemiptera belonging to Tettigonia and allied genera; a leaf hopper.

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