nerve impulse

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noun Physiology.

a progressive wave of electric and chemical activity along a nerve fiber that stimulates or inhibits the action of a muscle, gland, or other nerve cell.

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Origin of nerve impulse

First recorded in 1895–1900

Words nearby nerve impulse

nerve fibre, nerve gas, nerve graft, nerve growth factor, nerve growth factor antiserum, nerve impulse, nerveless, nerve net, nerve of pterygoid canal, nerve of tensor muscle of soft palate, nerve of tensor tympani muscle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use nerve impulse in a sentence

New techniques also make it possible to study how nerve impulses translate outside information to our inner worlds.
How technology can let us see and manipulate memories|Joshua Sariñana|August 25, 2021|MIT Technology Review
A bracelet studded with electrodes can detect tiny nerve impulses on the wrist.
Can privacy coexist with technology that reads and changes brain activity?|Laura Sanders|February 11, 2021|Science News
The impulse to interpret seems to me what makes personal essay writing compelling.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination|Mindy Farabee|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Few have the nerve to call him and he's usually pleased when an old friend does.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Then he lost his nerve and decided to live after all, and I called for help.
A Million Ways to Die in Prison|Daniel Genis|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In “Not What It Used To Be,” you write about talking to your younger self, which is an impulse I think many of us will understand.
Meghan Daum On Tackling The Unspeakable Parts Of Life|David Yaffe|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“But bringing it to New York was a bit nerve-wracking,” he admits.
This Fashion World Darling Is Homeless|Erica Wagner|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To reproduce the impulse born of the thought—this is the aim of a psychological method.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
Genoa has but recently and partially felt the new impulse, yet even here the march of improvement is visible.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
It is the dramatic impulse of childhood endeavouring to bring life into the dulness of the serious hours.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Those in whom the impulse is strong and dominant are perhaps those who in later years make the good society actors.
Children's Ways|James Sully
This impulse to extend rule appears more plainly in many of the little ceremonial observances of the child.
Children's Ways|James Sully

British Dictionary definitions for nerve impulse

nerve impulse

noun

the electrical wave transmitted along a nerve fibre, usually following stimulation of the nerve-cell bodySee also action potential

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

Medical definitions for nerve impulse

nerve impulse

A wave of physical and chemical excitation that moves along a nerve fiber in response to a stimulus.