reflex arc

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noun Physiology.

the nerve pathways followed by an impulse during a reflex.

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Origin of reflex arc

First recorded in 1880–85

Words nearby reflex arc

reflector, reflectorize, reflet, reflex, reflex angle, reflex arc, reflex camera, reflexed, reflexion, reflexive, reflexivize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use reflex arc in a sentence

But when a serial sex predator is playing fanboy, the gag reflex kicks in.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
How the polling firms and the media adjust to new realities also seems to be a rather long arc.
The Gun Battle Since Newtown|Cliff Schecter|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So the plan is for Ken to draw an arc with Dale doing covers, and then Dale does an arc with Ken doing covers.
Gail Simone’s Bisexual Catman and the ‘Secret Six’|Rich Goldstein|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A Molotov cocktail tumbled in an arc overhead and erupted briefly in a blaze.
Mexican Protesters Look to Start a New Revolution|Jason McGahan|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The stream of bubbly from the popped champagne bottle creates an angelic arc over her, and lands right in the glass.
Kim Kardashian Bares Her Shiny, Bounteous Butt, Breaks the Internet|Marlow Stern|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In this position, the line of cavalry formed the chord of the arc described by the river, and occupied by us.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
The sequestered spot, a seat beneath a plane tree, with a lonesome arc-lamp shining full upon it, was occupied.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
She looked very haggard and helpless beneath the blue arc-lights.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
Even if I were to be shot, the reflex action of my fingers would pull the trigger of this revolver and McGinty will die.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
The reflex excitability is lowered and the sensibility diminished.
A Statistical Inquiry Into the Nature and Treatment of Epilepsy|Alexander Hughes Bennett

British Dictionary definitions for reflex arc

reflex arc

noun

physiol the neural pathway over which impulses travel to produce a reflex action, consisting of at least one afferent (receptor) and one efferent (effector) neuron

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