| irritability | 1. The state or quality of being irritable; quick excitability; petulance; fretfulness; as, irritability of temper. 2. <physiology> A natural susceptibility, characteristic of all living organisms, tissues, and cells, to the influence of certain stimuli, response being manifested in a variety of ways, as that quality in plants by which they exhibit motion under suitable stimulation; especially, the property which living muscle processes, of responding either to a direct stimulus of its substance, or to the stimulating influence of its nerve fibres, the response being indicated by a change of form, or contraction; contractility. 3. <medicine> A condition of morbid excitability of an organ or part of the body; undue susceptibility to the influence of stimuli. See Irritation. Origin: L. Irritabilitas: cf. F. Irritabilite. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| burns, electric | Burns produced by contact with electric current or from a sudden discharge of electricity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| magneto-electric | <physics> Pertaining to, or characterised by, electricity by the action of magnets; as, magneto-electric induction. Magneto-electric machine, a form of dynamo-electric machine in which the field is maintained by permanent steel magnets instead of electromagnets. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| resino-electric | <physics> Containing or exhibiting resinous electricity. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| volta-electric | Of or pertaining to voltaic electricity, or voltaism. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| hydro-electric | Pertaining to, employed in, or produced by, the evolution of electricity by means of a battery in which water or steam is used. <physics> Hydro-electric machine, an apparatus invented by Sir William Armstrong of England for generating electricity by the escape of high-pressure steam from a series of jets connected with a strong boiler, in which the steam is produced. Origin: Hydro-, 1 + electric. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| dynamo-electric | <physics> Pertaining to the development of electricity, especially electrical currents, by power; producing electricity or electrical currents by mechanical power. Origin: Gr. Power + E. Electric. See Dynamic. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| electric | <physics> A nonconductor of electricity, as amber, glass, resin, etc, employed to excite or accumulate electricity. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| electric anaesthesia | Anaesthesia, usually general anaesthesia, produced by application of an electrical current. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electric bath | A bath in which the medium is charged with electricity. Synonym: hydroelectric bath. Therapeutic application of static electricity, with the patient placed on an insulated platform. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electric cardiac pacemaker | An electric device that can substitute for the normal cardiac pacemaker, controlling the heart's rhythm by artificial electric discharges. Synonym: electronic pacemaker. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electric cataract | A cataract caused by contact with a high-power electric current, or a lightning bolt. Synonym: cataracta electrica. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electric cautery | <procedure> The cauterisation of tissue using electric current to generate heat. (27 Sep 1997) |
| electric chorea | Progressively fatal spasmodic disorder, possibly of malarial origin, occurring chiefly in Italy, a severe form of Sydenham's chorea, in which the spasms are rapid and of a specially jerky character. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electric conductivity | The capacity to conduct an electric current. Conductivity is the reciprocal of resistance. (12 Dec 1998) |