Palsy n. (pl. palsies) (Med.) Paralysis, complete or partial. See Paralysis. "One sick of the palsy." Bell's palsy, paralysis of the facial nerve, producing distortion of one side of the face; so called from Sir Charles Bell, an English surgeon who described it.
Scrivener's palsy. See Writer's cramp, under Writer. Shaking palsy, (Med.) paralysis agitans, a disease usually occurring in old people, characterized by muscular tremors and a peculiar shaking and tottering gait; now called parkinsonism, or Parkinson's disease.