| laughter | A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the face, particularly of the lips, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction, or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. See Laugh, "The act of laughter, which is a sweet contraction of the muscles of the face, and a pleasant agitation of the vocal organs, is not merely, or totally within the jurisdiction of ourselves." (Sir T. Browne) "Archly the maiden smiled, and with eyes overrunning with laughter." (Longfellow) Origin: AS. Hleahtor; akin to OHG. Hlahtar, G. Gelachter, Icel. Hlatr, Dan. Latter. See Laugh. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| laughter reflex | Uncontrollable laughter excited by tickling. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced | Done or produced with force or great labour, or by extraordinary exertion; hurried; strained; produced by unnatural effort or pressure; as, a forced style; a forced laugh. Forced draught. See Draught. Forced march, a march of one or more days made with all possible speed. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| forced alimentation | Giving liquid food through a nasal tube passed into the stomach, forcing a person to eat more food than desired. Synonym: forced alimentation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced beat | <cardiology, physiology> An extrasystole supposedly precipitated in some way by the preceding normal beat to which it is coupled, an extrasystole caused by artificial stimulation of the heart. Synonym: dependent beat. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced cycle | <cardiology, physiology> A cardiac cycle (atrial or ventricular) that is cut short by a forced beat. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced duction | A manoeuver to determine whether a mechanical obstruction is present in the eye; with forceps grasping an eye muscle, an attempt is made to passively move the eyeball in the direction of restricted rotation. Synonym: passive duction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced expiratory flow | Expiratory flow during measurement of forced vital capacity; subscripts specify the exact parameter measured, e.g., peak instantaneous flow, the instantaneous flow at some specified point on the curve of volume expired versus time, or on the flow-volume curve, the mean flow between two expired volumes. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced expiratory flow rates | Measurements of rates of airflow during a forced vital capacity determination. (12 Dec 1998) |
| forced expiratory time | The time taken to expire a given volume or a given fraction of vital capacity during measurement of forced vital capacity; subscripts specify the exact parameters measured. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced expiratory volume | Measure of the maximum amount of air during a forced vital capacity determination that can be expelled in a given number of seconds. It is usually given as fev followed by a subscript indicating the number of seconds over which the measurement is made, although it is sometimes given as a percentage of forced vital capacity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| forced feeding | Giving liquid food through a nasal tube passed into the stomach, forcing a person to eat more food than desired. Synonym: forced alimentation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced grasping reflex | An involuntary flexion of the fingers to tactile or tendon stimulation on the palm of the hand, producing an uncontrollable grasp; usually associated with frontal lobe lesions. Compare: darwinian reflex. Synonym: forced grasping reflex, grasp reflex. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced respiration | Voluntary hyperventilation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced vital capacity | Vital capacity measured with the subject exhaling as rapidly as possible; data relating volume, expiratory flow, and time form the basis for other pulmonary function tests, e.g., flow-volume curve, forced expiratory volume, forced expiratory time, forced expiratory flow. (05 Mar 2000) |