irritability : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: irritability	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for irritability
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
irritability n an irritable petulant feeling [syn: irritability, crossness, fretfulness, fussiness, peevishness, petulance, choler] excessive sensitivity of an organ or body part Synonym(s): excitability, irritability a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger; "his temper was well known to all his employees" Synonym(s): temper, biliousness, irritability, peevishness, pettishness, snappishness, surliness
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Irritability \Ir`ritabil"ity\, n. [L. irritabilitas: cf. F. irritabilit[82].] 1. The state or quality of being irritable; quick excitability; petulance; fretfulness; as, irritability* of temper. 2. (Physiol.) A natural susceptibility, characteristic of all living organisms, tissues, and cells, to the influence of certain stimuli, response being manifested in a variety of ways, -- as that quality in plants by which they exhibit motion under suitable stimulation; esp., the property which living muscle processes, of responding either to a direct stimulus of its substance, or to the stimulating influence of its nerve fibers, the response being indicated by a change of form, or contraction; contractility. 3. (Med.) A condition of morbid excitability of an organ or part of the body; undue susceptibility to the influence of stimuli. See {Irritation}, n., 3.