convulsion:抽搐;痉挛(身体不由自主地剧烈收缩或抖动);也可引申为剧烈的动荡/骚乱(较少见,偏书面)。
/kənˈvʌlʃən/
A convulsion shook his arm for a few seconds.
一次抽搐让他的手臂抖动了几秒钟。
The patient had repeated convulsions after the high fever, which worried the family and the doctors.
高烧之后病人反复出现抽搐,这让家属和医生都很担心。
来自拉丁语 convulsio,源于 convellere,意为“猛烈拉扯、撕扯”(con- “一起/完全” + vellere “拉”)。因此该词最初带有“被剧烈拉动”的形象,后来用于描述肌肉不受控制的强烈收缩,即“抽搐/痉挛”。