synapse

[ sin-aps, si-naps ]

/ ˈsɪn æps, sɪˈnæps /

Physiology

Save This Word!

noun

a region where nerve impulses are transmitted and received, encompassing the axon terminal of a neuron that releases neurotransmitters in response to an impulse, an extremely small gap across which the neurotransmitters travel, and the adjacent membrane of an axon, dendrite, or muscle or gland cell with the appropriate receptor molecules for picking up the neurotransmitters.

verb (used without object), syn·apsed, syn·aps·ing.

Cell Biology, Physiology. to form a synapse or a synapsis.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of synapse

1895–1900; back formation from synapses, plural of synapsis

OTHER WORDS FROM synapse

syn·ap·tic

[si-nap-tik], /sɪˈnæp tɪk/, syn·ap·ti·cal, adjectivesyn·ap·ti·cal·ly, adverb

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

How to use synapse in a sentence

And the toxin, which sits in the synapses between neurons, can take weeks to wash out.
The Deadliest Botox Has Arrived|Kent Sepkowitz|October 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
That three-pound lump of gray matter contains 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses, or connections.
How Computers Just Got More Human|Dan Lyons|September 21, 2011|DAILY BEAST
It was over now, but his synapses were still crackling with the memories of those burning lashes of energy.
But, I Don't Think|Gordon Randall Garrett
They are supposed to be due to a change at the synapses connecting neurone with neurone in the grey matter.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4|Various

Synapses shorted with soundless cold fire, and waited in timeless stasis for rechannelling.
The Cuckoo Clock|Wesley Barefoot
Gral would not have called it laziness; his crude synapses could not have contained the thought, much less given it relevance.
The Beginning|Henry Hasse
But inevitably his synapses took hold, the neuronic links grooved, and to Gral one thought emerged: the vines would never do.
The Beginning|Henry Hasse

British Dictionary definitions for synapse

synapse

/ (ˈsaɪnæps) /

noun

the point at which a nerve impulse is relayed from the terminal portion of an axon to the dendrites of an adjacent 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

Scientific definitions for synapse

synapse

[ sĭn′ăps′ ]

The small junction across which a nerve impulse passes from one nerve cell to another nerve cell, a muscle cell, or a gland cell. The synapse consists of the synaptic terminal, or presynaptic ending, of a sending neuron, a postsynaptic ending of the receiving cell that contains receptor sites, and the space between them (the synaptic cleft). The synaptic terminal contains neurotransmitters and cell organelles including mitochondria. An electrical impulse in the sending neuron triggers the migration of vesicles containing neurotransmitters toward the membrane of the synaptic terminal. The vesicle membrane fuses with the presynaptic membrane, and the neurotransmitters are released into the synaptic cleft and bind to receptors of the connecting cell where they excite or inhibit electrical impulses. See also neurotransmitter.

Cultural definitions for synapse

synapse

[ (sin-aps, si-naps) ]

A gap between two nerve cells. Nerve signals are sent across the gap by neurotransmitters.