symptom - (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease

charley horse, charley-horse - a muscular cramp (especially in the thigh or calf) following vigorous exercise

graphospasm, writer's cramp - muscular spasms of thumb and forefinger while writing with a pen or pencil

blepharospasm - spasm of the eyelid muscle resulting in closure of the eye

crick, rick, wrick - a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (`rick' and `wrick' are British)

myoclonus - a clonic spasm of a muscle or muscle group

opisthotonos - severe spasm in which the back arches and the head bends back and heels flex toward the back

twitch, twitching, vellication - a sudden muscle spasm; especially one caused by a nervous condition

tenesmus - painful spasm of the anal sphincter along with an urgent desire to defecate without the significant production of feces; associated with irritable bowel syndrome

trismus - prolonged spasm of the jaw muscles

bronchospasm - a spasm of the bronchi that makes exhalation difficult and noisy; associated with asthma and bronchitis

cardiospasm - a spasm of the cardiac sphincter (between the esophagus and the stomach); if the cardiac sphincter does not relax during swallowing the passage of food into the stomach is obstructed

retch, heave - an involuntary spasm of ineffectual vomiting; "a bad case of the heaves"

laryngismus - laryngeal spasm caused by the sudden contraction of laryngeal muscles

constriction - the action or process of compressing

pathology - the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases