autonomic nervous system
- the system of nerves and ganglia that innervates the blood vessels, heart, smooth muscles, viscera, and glands and controls their involuntary functions, consisting of sympathetic and parasympathetic portions.
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Origin of autonomic nervous system
First recorded in 1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
autonomic nervous system
- the section of the nervous system of vertebrates that controls the involuntary actions of the smooth muscles, heart, and glands. It has two divisions: the sympathetic and the parasympatheticCompare somatic nervous system
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
autonomic nervous system
- The part of the nervous system that regulates involuntary action, as of the intestines, smooth muscle, heart, and glands, and that is divided into two physiologically and anatomically distinct, mutually antagonistic systems, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
autonomic nervous system
[ô′tə-nŏm′ĭk]
- The part of the vertebrate nervous system that regulates involuntary activity in the body by transmitting motor impulses to cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and the glands. The muscular activity of the heart and of the circulatory, digestive, respiratory, and urogenital systems is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
autonomic nervous system
[(aw-tuh-nom-ik)]
The part of the nervous system that controls involuntary functions of the body (those not controlled consciously), such as digestion, the beating of the heart, and the operation of glands in the endocrine system.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.