oculomotor nerve

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. either one of the third pair of cranial nerves, consisting chiefly of motor fibers that innervate most of the muscles of the eyeball.

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oculomotor nerve British  

noun

1. the third cranial nerve, which supplies most of the eye muscles

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Etymology

Origin of oculomotor nerve

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

For example, the oculomotor nerve controls the opening and closing of the eyelid and some eye movements.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The oculomotor nerve controls all the other extraocular muscles, as well as a muscle of the upper eyelid.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

All of the other muscles are innervated by the oculomotor nerve, as is the levator palpebrae superioris.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

If light levels are too high, the parasympathetic system sends a signal out from the Eddinger–Westphal nucleus through the oculomotor nerve.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

One side of a card might read, “Show me, sir, the lesions of Horner’s syndrome & oculomotor nerve paralysis. And what the divvil’s an Argyll Robertson pupil?”

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French