Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Complete paralysis of the lower half of the body including both legs, usually caused by damage to the spinal cord.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Paralysis of both lower limbs with more or less of the trunk.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) Palsy of the lower half of the body on both sides, caused usually by disease of the spinal cord.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun pathology A condition where the lower half of a patient's body is paralyzed and cannot move.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun paralysis of the lower half of the body (most often as a result of trauma)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek dialectal paraplēgiē, hemiplegia, from paraplēssesthai, paraplēg-, to be paralyzed, from paraplēssein, to strike on one side : para-, beside; see para– + plēssein, to strike; see plāk- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From New Latin paraplegia, from Ancient Greek παραπληγία (paraplēgia), Ionic Greek for παραπληξία (paraplēksia, "paralysis on one side"), from παραπλήσσεσθαι (paraplēssesthai, "to be stricken on one side"), active παραπλήσσειν (paraplēssein, "to strike on one side"), from παρά (para, "beside") + πλήσσειν (plēssein, "to strike").

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Examples

  • Following trial, the jury awarded the 45-year-old plaintiff, who was impaled by a steel bar from the scrotum to L2 on his spinal cord, resulting in paraplegia and associated complications, $5 million for past pain and suffering, $10 million for future pain and suffering over 35 years, and $8,295,000 for future medical expenses.

    First Department 2008

  • Following trial, the jury awarded the 45-year-old plaintiff, who was impaled by a steel bar from the scrotum to L2 on his spinal cord, resulting in paraplegia and associated complications, $5 million for past pain and suffering, $10 million for future pain and suffering over 35 years, and $8,295,000 for future medical expenses.

    Labor Law 2007

  • Paralysis of the posterior half of the body is known as paraplegia and results from derangement of the spinal cord.

    Special Report on Diseases of the Horse Charles B. Michener 1877

  • The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund provides much-needed financial assistance to jockeys who have suffered catastrophic injuries such as paraplegia and head injuries while performing their services as jockeys.

    TheHorse.com News 2009

  • The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund provides much-needed financial assistance to jockeys who have suffered catastrophic injuries such as paraplegia and head injuries while performing their services as jockeys.

    TheHorse.com News 2009

  • He and his family were overjoyed, and Stone explained how important it was to have the independence that a car gives someone with paraplegia.

    Carlana Stone gets into a good groove on "Oprah's Big Give" BA Haller 2008

  • Mr. Callahan said he realized his paraplegia was not the problem; his alcoholism was.

    Acerbic and irreverent cartoonist John Callahan dies at 59 2010

  • Just over 5 percent of federal employees are disabled and less than 1 percent are people with targeted disabilities -- defined as deafness, blindness, mental retardation, dwarfism and paraplegia, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

    Kudos to federal workers helping a deaf colleague 2010

  • The "rest of what you wrote" it appears, unless you want to clarify, refers again not to the actually REST OF THE POST, learning from each other, not letting the hierarchy imposed upon up dictate our self and view of others but rather the paragraph on SCI and paraplegia.

    Blogging Against Disabilism: disabilism within disability Elizabeth McClung 2009

  • He launched a lawsuit, but the insurer argued that his paraplegia was caused by a disease herpes, and that diseases are not accidents.

    Man claims $200,000 for herpes - Canada - Macleans.ca 2009

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