Definition of "retropulsion"
retropulsion
noun
countable and uncountable, plural retropulsions
(medicine) A tendency to step or walk backwards involuntarily, especially as a symptom of parkinsonism.
Quotations
Pretreating rats with α-methyl-ρ-tyrosine (30 mg/kg i.p. at -4 h) to interrupt the synthesis of catecholamines antagonized pivoting and retropulsion induced by levallorphan (50 mg/kg i.p.) (WRAY 1973) but, surprisingly, not lateral head movements and pivoting elicited by cyclazocine (3 mg/kg s.c.) (BUCKETT and SHAW 1975).
2012, Opioids II, page 409
(medicine, obsolete) Transfer of a disease from an external source to an internal organ.
Quotations
From this account, it will also be evident, that there can be no danger from the retropulsion, or rather the retiring of prickly heat, except what may arise from the cause that checked perspiration. Many absurd notions have been entertained on this subject, which have really proved prejudicial to health. It hs been very generally supposed, that the matter of prickly heat was highly injurious, and therefore, that the retiring of it into the body was extremely dangerous.
1797, Hector McLean, An enquiry into the nature and causes of the great mortality among the troops at St. Domingo