dendrite
Americannoun
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Petrology, Mineralogy.
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a branching figure or marking, resembling moss or a shrub or tree in form, found on or in certain stones or minerals due to the presence of a foreign material.
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any arborescent crystalline growth.
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Anatomy. the branching process of a neuron that conducts impulses toward the cell.
noun
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Also called: dendron. any of the short branched threadlike extensions of a nerve cell, which conduct impulses towards the cell body
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a branching mosslike crystalline structure in some rocks and minerals
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a crystal that has branched during growth and has a treelike form
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Any of several parts branching from the body of a neuron that receive and transmit nerve impulses.
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A mineral that has a branching crystal pattern. Dendrites often form within or on the surface of other minerals and often consist of manganese oxides.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dendrite
1720–30; < Greek dendrī́tēs pertaining to a tree, equivalent to dendr- dendr- + -ītēs -ite 1
Explanation
In biology, a dendrite is a thin fiber that extends from a nerve cell. The job of a dendrite is to pass along electric signals it receives from other cells. Cells that carry electrical signals or impulses are known as neurons, and the specialized branches on neurons that do the work of receiving and sending these signals are dendrites. Some cells have thousands of dendrites, and each carries a small electrical current when it's working. These fibers are often described as "branches," a reference to their structure — and in fact, the word dendrite comes from the Greek dendron, "tree."
Vocabulary lists containing dendrite
Psychology
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - High School
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"Teens and Decision Making" and "The Teen Brain"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Between three and eight weeks of age, a period that spans early childhood to adolescence, spine density increased sharply in a single region of the apical dendrite.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 16, 2026
An analysis of these crucial moments revealed a microscopic upheaval in the dendrite.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 9, 2024
The new battery structure adds a fluorine-rich interlayer that stabilizes the cathode side, as well as a modification of the anode's interlayer with magnesium and bismuth -- suppressing the lithium dendrite.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2023
Many tiny hair-like cilia protrude from the olfactory receptor cell’s dendrite and into the mucus covering the surface of the olfactory epithelium.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
There is always a tiny gap between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrite of the next.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
