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reflex arc

American

noun

Physiology.

the nerve pathways followed by an impulse during a reflex.

reflex arc British

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

Etymology

Origin of reflex arc

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

Experts tend to agree that there is a hiccup reflex arc, or circuit, that includes the vagus and phrenic nerves.

From New York Times • Aug. 15, 2019

Whereas the basic circuit is a reflex arc, there are differences in the structure of those reflexes for the somatic and autonomic systems.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Salivation in response to food in the oral cavity is based on a visceral reflex arc within the facial or glossopharyngeal nerves.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

The reflex arc of mechanism usually involved in hiccups is not entirely understood.

From Time Magazine Archive

This is all that one such reflex arc could do for the animal.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Park, Robert Ezra

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023