A sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles, causing pain or movement.
From Greek 'spasmos,' from 'span' meaning 'to pull or draw.' The word describes the pulling sensation of muscles contracting suddenly.
Spasms are your muscles basically misfiring—they contract suddenly without you telling them to. We experience this in 'jumpers' when falling asleep, and ancient people didn't have neuroscience to explain it, so they thought spirits were pulling at their muscles!
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