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tic: see spasm spasm, involuntary rigid muscle contraction, often persistent and often accompanied by pain. It usually has some underlying physical cause such as disease, strain, or injury to the muscle or nearby tissues, impairment of circulation, or a disturbance of body ..... Click the link for more information. . ticSudden rapid, recurring muscle contraction—usually a blink, sniff, twitch, or shrug—always brief, irresistible, and localized. Frequency decreases from head to foot. Unlike a spasm, a cramp, or the movements of chorea or epilepsy, it does not interfere with other movement and can be held off for a time. It can become ingrained as a habit of which the person (most often a nervous child 5–12 years old) is unaware. Most tics are probably psychological, but similar movements occur in some physical disorders (e.g., late-stage encephalitis). People with tics have some control over the movement but feel impelled to go through with it to feel better. Tension increases the movement's likelihood, and distraction reduces it. Psychotherapy, relaxation training, and biofeedback training have had some success in treating tics. TIC(Token Ring Interface Card) A TLA for a Token Ring NIC (network interface card). tic Pathol spasmodic twitching of a particular group of muscles How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| And as he walked with hurried steps, his heart beat with an excited tic, tac, tic, tac, just as if it were a wall clock, and his busy brain kept thinking: This instant's hesita- tion seemed to fill him with a tremendous, fantas- tic contempt, and he damned them in shrieked sentences. But how often have I seen him leave his home, where the sick and the hungry felt, when he left them, that they had lost their only earthly friend, to ride on a duty which could not be neglected for domes tic evils |
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