Also called pons Varolii. a band of nerve fibers in the brain connecting the lobes of the midbrain, medulla, and cerebrum.
any tissue connecting two parts of a body organ or structure.
a bridge of connecting tissue
short for pons Varolii
1685–95; < Latin pōns bridge ( see punt 1)
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
However, messages coming down from the pons actually inhibit activity in the medulla, leading breathing rates to slow down.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2024
Han's team hypothesized that certain emotions or behaviors could lead cortical neurons to activate the pons, which would then lower activity in the medulla, resulting in slower breath.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2024
Cochlear neurons send descending projections to the spinal cord and ascending projections to the pons, thalamus, and cerebellum.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
The most significant connection between the cerebellum and the rest of the brain is at the pons, because the pons and cerebellum develop out of the same vesicle.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The pons consists of white and grey matter: the nerve fibres of the white matter pass through the substance of the pons, in either a transverse or a longitudinal direction.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4 "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" by Various
What’s different: Pons has been more cautious when it comes to adding goods she hasn’t sold before or anything with a high price tag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025
Pons was pregnant with her first child during the filming, a fact that is worked into her appearance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Jordi Pons: I look at what players do on the pitch.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2025
Retired banker and longtime Republican activist Lori Marie Pesta and retired airline pilot Mike Pons are running against Loudermilk in the 11th Congressional District northwest of Atlanta.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
Special commissions were sometimes issued, as when, in 1276, Pons de Pornac, Inquisitor of Toulouse, authorized the Dominican Prior of Montauban to take testimony against Bernard de Solhac and forward it to him under seal.
From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume I by Lea, Henry Charles
After passing through the pontes they received the voting tablets at the entrance of the septa.
From Plutarch's Lives, Volume II by Stewart, Aubrey
Where this great road crosses streams and might reasonably be lost, at its pontes, its bridges, it has remained, and is of such importance as to have given a name to a whole countryside--Ponthieu.
From First and Last by Belloc, Hilaire
This is now a sacred island, lying by the city, adorned with temples of the gods, and walks, and is called in the Latin tongue inter duos pontes.
From Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans by Clough, Arthur Hugh
Definitions 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.
