tenesmus

American  

[tuh-nez-muhs, -nes-] / təˈnɛz məs, -ˈnɛs- /

noun

Pathology.

1. a straining to urinate or defecate, without the ability to do so.

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tenesmus British  

/ -ˈnɛs-, tɪˈnɛzməs /

noun

1. pathol an ineffective painful straining to empty the bowels in response to the sensation of a desire to defecate, without producing a significant quantity of faeces

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Other Word Forms

• tenesmic adjective

Etymology

Origin of tenesmus

1520–30; < Medieval Latin, variant of Latin tēnesmos < Greek teinesmós, equivalent to teín ( ein ) to stretch + -esmos noun suffix

Example Sentences

The result: GI distress and tenesmus, the painful sensation of needing to go number-two even when your bowels are empty.

From Time

The urine is scanty and high colored; there is sometimes scalding in urination and vesical tenesmus, and at the acme of the fever traces of albumen may be detected.

From Project Gutenberg

The stools are pappy, or watery, profuse, offensive and followed by tenesmus.

From Project Gutenberg

If the abstinence is continued for two or three days he has borborygmi, occasionally tenesmus.

From Project Gutenberg

The pressure of the growth may cause dysmenorrhoea, or pressure on the bladder and rectum may cause dysuria, retention or rectal tenesmus.

From Project Gutenberg