lockjaw C1 Topic:Health & Medicine US /ˈlɑkˌdʒɔ/ UK /ˈlɒkdʒɔː/ See IPA manual Freq #44032 Meanings 1 noun an acute and serious infection of the central nervous system caused by bacterial infection of open wounds Lockjaw is a common name for tetanus because severe jaw stiffness is characteristic. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · an acute and serious... tetanus Etymology From lock + jaw. Topics Health & Medicine External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # lockjaw **Type:** Word **Level:** C1 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈlɑkˌdʒɔ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈlɒkdʒɔː/ **Frequency rank:** 44032 ## Meanings 1. an acute and serious infection of the central nervous system caused by bacterial infection of open wounds ## Examples - Lockjaw is a common name for tetanus because severe jaw stiffness is characteristic. ## Synonyms - tetanus ## Etymology From lock + jaw. ## Topics - Health & Medicine markdown