spasm

noun

1. A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ.

   “Jessica went into spasms after eating a peanut.”

2. A violent, excruciating seizure of pain.
3. A sudden and temporary burst of energy, activity, or emotion.

   “He would use the simplest, plainest language, he said to himself over and over again; but it is not always easy to use simple, plain language,—by no means so easy as to mount on stilts, and to march along with sesquipedalian words, with pathos, spasms, and notes of interjection.”

   “Both Spear & Davis were indicted in the witchhunt surrounding the sensational (if nonexistent) "Revere sex ring." Both men have said they have been police targets since at least 1975, following the anti-gay spasm which ensued after Dick Bavely's suicide.”

verb

1. To produce and undergo a spasm or series of spasms.