chemoreceptor

noun

che·​mo·​re·​cep·​tor ˌkē-mō-ri-ˈsep-tər 

: a sense organ (such as a taste bud) responding to chemical stimuli

Examples of chemoreceptor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Corals may lack taste buds, nostrils and a brain, but the tiny reef-builders aren’t totally senseless: Their chemoreceptor cells can detect gaseous molecules floating around in the water, many of which are created by corals themselves during photosynthesis. —Marisa Sloan, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2022

These results demonstrate rapid remodelling of the chemoreceptor repertoire as an adaptation to specific environments, and indicate that parallel changes to a common genetic substrate can affect life-history traits across species. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 19 Aug. 2011

All these substances can stimulate what’s called the chemoreceptor trigger zone in your brainstem, which communicates with another brain region called the vomiting center. —Patrick Wilson, Outside Online, 15 June 2020

In fact, the vomiting in motion sickness is induced by the same area of the brain — the chemoreceptor trigger zone in the medulla — that causes vomiting in response to poisons. —Quanta Magazine, 30 Jan. 2018

Word History

Etymology

chemo- + receptor, after chemoreception

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

chemoreceptor

noun

che·​mo·​re·​cep·​tor -ri-ˈsep-tər 

variants also chemoceptor

ˈkē-mō-ˌsep-tər also ˈkem-ō-

: a sense organ (as a taste bud) responding to chemical stimuli