From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishparalysispa‧ral‧y‧sis /pəˈrælɪsɪs/ noun [uncountable] 1 MIthe loss of the ability to move all or part of your body or feel things in it paralysis of the lower body The snake’s poison causes paralysis.2 NOT DO somethinga state of being unable to take action, make decisions, or operate normally a period of political paralysis → infantile paralysis
Examples from the Corpus
paralysis• To prevent certain paralysis they needed to perform a series of operations to graft a spinal vertebra.• They did not, as hoped, prevent or cure paralysis.• The new President promised to end years of government paralysis.• This is implied by the dyspraxia that sometimes occurs in frontal or parietal lobe disease in the absence of paralysis.• Her left arm still dangled in painful paralysis.• Such injuries can cause permanent paralysis.• Those left with residual paralysis faced a range of ill effects, from the minor to the life-changing.• The Communist Party's paralysis is one factor, but the prime responsibility lies with Labour's manic political caution.• Sarah Benton discusses the paralysis of political debate on the Gulf in Britain.Origin paralysis (1500-1600) Latin Greek, from paralyein “to loosen” 