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chemoreceptor
noun
che·mo·re·cep·tor
ˌkē-mō-ri-ˈsep-tər
: a sense organ (such as a taste bud) responding to chemical stimuli
Examples of chemoreceptor in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Corals may lack taste buds, nostrils and a brain, but the tiny reef-builders aren’t totally senseless: Their chemoreceptor cells can detect gaseous molecules floating around in the water, many of which are created by corals themselves during photosynthesis.
—Marisa Sloan, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2022
These results demonstrate rapid remodelling of the chemoreceptor repertoire as an adaptation to specific environments, and indicate that parallel changes to a common genetic substrate can affect life-history traits across species.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 19 Aug. 2011
All these substances can stimulate what’s called the chemoreceptor trigger zone in your brainstem, which communicates with another brain region called the vomiting center.
—Patrick Wilson, Outside Online, 15 June 2020
In fact, the vomiting in motion sickness is induced by the same area of the brain — the chemoreceptor trigger zone in the medulla — that causes vomiting in response to poisons.
—Quanta Magazine, 30 Jan. 2018
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Word History
Etymology
chemo- + receptor, after chemoreception
First Known Use
1906, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near chemoreceptor
Cite this Entry
“Chemoreceptor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chemoreceptor. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Medical Definition
chemoreceptor
noun
che·mo·re·cep·tor
-ri-ˈsep-tər
variants
also chemoceptor
ˈkē-mō-ˌsep-tər also ˈkem-ō-
: a sense organ (as a taste bud) responding to chemical stimuli
More from Merriam-Webster on chemoreceptor
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about chemoreceptor
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