innervate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to communicate nervous energy to; stimulate through nerves.
-
to furnish with nerves; grow nerves into.
verb
-
to supply nerves to (a bodily organ or part)
-
to stimulate (a bodily organ or part) with nerve impulses
Other Word Forms
- innervation noun
Etymology
Origin of innervate
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.
They knew that vocal cord adduction is controlled by laryngeal motor neurons, so they began by tracing backward to find the neurons that innervate those motor neurons.
From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2024
When a threshold signal is detected, nerves of the somatic nervous system that innervate skeletal muscle are stimulated.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Your sensory neurons innervate all the muscles in your body, and from how much your muscles are stretched, you have a very visual—without actually looking—image of where your limbs are.
From Scientific American • Oct. 8, 2021
Some parts of the body might be more sensitive to NaV1.7 blockers than others, because neurons that innervate one organ might have different populations of ion channels than neurons in another.
From Nature • Sep. 10, 2019
Optic ganglia: are at the sides of the procerebrum and innervate the compound eyes.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.
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.
