Definition of tenesmus Tenesmus

te•nes•mus

We found 5 definitions of tenesmus from 4 different sources.

What does tenesmus mean?

WordNet

Noun

Plural: tenesmuses

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

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Wiktionary

tenesmus (Noun)
The painful and often ineffectual straining to relieve the bowels.
tenesmus (Noun)
A painfully urgent need to urinate or defecate that results in little being passed.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

tenesmus (n.)
An urgent and distressing sensation, as if a discharge from the intestines must take place, although none can be effected; -- always referred to the lower extremity of the rectum.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

tenesmus
tē-nes′mus, n. the term applied in medicine to a straining and painful effort to relieve the bowels when no fæcal matter is present in the rectum, the effort being caused by some adjacent source of irritation.—adj. Tenes′mic