constriction
(kənˈstrɪkʃən)
Also 5 construccion, -tioun.
[ad. L. constrictiōn-em, n. of action f. constringĕre: see constringe, constrict, constrain. (In F. cited by Littré from Paré, 16th c.)]
1. Compressing or drawing together as by an encircling pressure; the condition of being so compressed together; compression, contraction.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 66 Þou schalt knowe it bi construccion [v.r. constructioun] & dilatacion of þe same arterie. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 641 The glottis..hath a double motion, one of dilatation another of constriction. 1620 Venner Via Recta viii. 192 The constriction of the pores..of the body. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iii. §37. 161 Evincing the systole of the Heart to be a muscular constriction. 1794 S. Williams Vermont 90 By their constriction the fluid is forced out. 1836 Penny Cycl. V. 19/2 [Serpents have] immense muscular power, enabling some of the species to kill large animals by constriction. |
b. A morbid condition of contractedness or tightness, or the feeling of such a condition.
| 1783 Johnson Let. to J. Taylor 17 June in Boswell, An oppressive, constriction of my chest. 1871 W. A. Hammond Dis. Nervous Syst. 49 In both there are headache, sense of constriction, vertigo, etc. 1882 Syd. Soc. Lex., Constriction-band sensation, a feeling as of a cord tied round the waist; a symptom of some diseases of the spinal cord. |
† c. A spasmodic contraction or shrinking of any part of the body. Obs.
| 1771 S. Farr Anim. Motion 366 A Fourth effect..from a Stimulus, when it acts upon our bodies, is a Constriction or Spasm of the part to which it is applied. |
2. concr. A constricted part; a part markedly narrowed as if by some constricting influence.
| 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1828) IV. xxxvii. 11 The spinal marrow being formed of knots separated only by slight or deep constrictions. 1865 Parkman Champlain ix. (1875) 301 A constriction of the vast channel narrows it to a mile. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 41 Raphanus maritimus..joints separated by a very deep constriction. |
3. Something which constricts or confines.
| 1650 R. Hollingworth Exerc. conc. Usurped Powers 29 Those words..are an expresse, and fully sufficient constriction. 1877 Blackmore Cripps II. iv. 52 Neither was there hedge, or rail, or other mean constriction. |