A nerve, esp. a cranial nerve, believed to be involved in sensation. Obsolete.

Medicine. A motor nerve. Obsolete. rare.

a string or nerve supposed to be essential to life (frequently in plural); also in extended use.

Anatomy. A recurrent nerve or blood vessel; spec. a recurrent laryngeal nerve (see sense A. 1a).

= life string n. (in modern use esp. a spinal or umbilical cord); also in extended use.

Anatomy and Zoology. Originally: †an abductor muscle, esp. the lateral rectus muscle of the eye (obsolete). In later use: the abducens nerve.

Anatomy. A structure in the animal body resembling a cord. Applied generally to a nerve trunk, and spec. to certain structures, esp. the spermatic…

Physiology. Applied to structures in an animal body resembling strings. Applied to various structures; esp. the vocal chords, spermatic chord, spinal…

Anatomy. A motor nerve. Obsolete.

An afferent vessel or nerve.

An afferent nerve belonging to the spinal division of the nervous system. Also attributive or as adj.

the proximal part of a nerve, from which smaller branches arise.

a nerve which contains both sensory and motor nerve fibres.

That inhibits or checks anything; producing inhibition. inhibitory nerve (Physiology), a nerve of which the stimulation represses or diminishes…

A small or fine nerve. Chiefly in extended use.

A vaso-motor nerve.

A pilomotor nerve; an arrector pili muscle.

Anatomy. A band or bundle of fibres in the central nervous system, esp. one of those connecting sensory nuclei to the thalamus. Also (now archaic)…