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# lockjaw

«lockjaw» in Mova's school dictionary: **An old everyday name for tetanus, a serious illness…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (lockjaw — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An old everyday name for tetanus, a serious illness caused by germs getting into a wound, which makes muscles go stiff. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/#m1)

2) A tight cramp of the jaw muscles so that the mouth will not open properly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In health and safety lessons, children learn that a deep cut from a rusty nail or dirty soil can let tetanus germs in; the illness is sometimes called lockjaw because the jaw muscles lock. Vaccines (jabs) protect against it. Phrases: get lockjaw, a tetanus jab.

### examples

- Tetanus is also called lockjaw. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/#x1)
- The nurse gave me a jab to protect me from lockjaw. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/#x2)
- Lockjaw makes the jaw muscles go stiff. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/#x3)
- Clean any cut from a rusty nail and tell an adult. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/#x4)
- In the old days many farmers caught lockjaw. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/#x5)
- Grandad said, «Mind that nail or you'll get lockjaw!» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/#x6)
- Vaccines have made lockjaw rare in many countries. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/#x7)

### note

Uncountable. The medical name is tetanus. Myth: rust itself does not cause it; germs in soil and dirt do, and rusty objects are often dirty. A wound that might have tetanus germs needs a doctor.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «lockjaw» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lockjaw/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.