nerve cord

American  

noun

1. a single hollow tract of nervous tissue that constitutes the central nervous system of chordates and develops into the spinal cord and brain in vertebrates.

2. a solid double strand of nerve fibers along the length of the body in elongate invertebrates, as earthworms and insects, connecting with a pair of nerve ganglia at each body segment.

---

Etymology

Origin of nerve cord

First recorded in 1875–80

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nerve cord

They put them together into a 3D map of the brain and nerve cord and compared them to the earlier, female mapping.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

The finished connectome shows how each neuron connects with other neurons in the brain and nerve cord at the level of individual synapses.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026

At the same time, Lee and his colleagues were building a connectome of the fruit fly nerve cord, which controls the legs, wings, and other appendages while also processing sensory information.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026

Immediately beneath the nerve cord is a notochord that also runs the length of the organism.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

Sometimes, indeed, the two sets of filaments are combined into one nerve cord, but if traced to their origin these are found to arise from different brain centres.

From A History of Science — Volume 4 by Henry Smith Williams

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---