RECEPTOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does receptor mean? 

• RECEPTOR (noun)
  The noun RECEPTOR has 2 senses:

1. a cellular structure that is postulated to exist in order to mediate between a chemical agent that acts on nervous tissue and the physiological response

2. an organ having nerve endings (in the skin or viscera or eye or ear or nose or mouth) that respond to stimulation

  Familiarity information: RECEPTOR used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RECEPTOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cellular structure that is postulated to exist in order to mediate between a chemical agent that acts on nervous tissue and the physiological response

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("receptor" is a kind of...):

anatomical structure; bodily structure; body structure; complex body part; structure (a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "receptor"):

alpha-adrenergic receptor; alpha-adrenoceptor; alpha receptor (receptors postulated to exist on nerve cell membranes of the sympathetic nervous system in order to explain the specificity of certain agents that affect only some sympathetic activities (such as vasoconstriction and relaxation of intestinal muscles and contraction of smooth muscles))

beta-adrenergic receptor; beta-adrenoceptor; beta receptor (receptors postulated to exist on nerve cell membranes of the sympathetic nervous system in order to explain the specificity of certain agents that affect only some sympathetic activities (such as vasodilation and increased heart beat))

Sense 2

Meaning:

An organ having nerve endings (in the skin or viscera or eye or ear or nose or mouth) that respond to stimulation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

receptor; sense organ; sensory receptor

Hypernyms ("receptor" is a kind of...):

organ (a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function)

Meronyms (parts of "receptor"):

papilla (a small nipple-shaped protuberance concerned with taste, touch, or smell)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "receptor"):

lateral line; lateral line organ (sense organs of fish and amphibians; believed to detect pressure changes in the water)

enteroceptor; interoceptor (any receptor that responds to stimuli inside the body)

exteroceptor (any receptor that responds to stimuli outside the body)

pineal eye; third eye (a sensory structure capable of light reception located on the dorsal side of the diencephalon in various reptiles)

baroreceptor (a sensory receptor that responds to pressure)

chemoreceptor (a sensory receptor that responds to chemical stimuli)

thermoreceptor (a sensory receptor that responds to heat and cold)

eye; oculus; optic (the organ of sight)

ear (the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium)

organ of hearing (the part of the ear that is responsible for sensations of sound)

inner ear; internal ear; labyrinth (a complex system of interconnecting cavities; concerned with hearing and equilibrium)

semicircular canal (one of three tube loops filled with fluid and in planes nearly at right angles with one another; concerned with equilibrium)

stretch receptor (a receptor in a muscle that responds to stretching of the muscle tissue)

Holonyms ("receptor" is a part of...):

sensory system (the body's system of sense organs)

Antonym:

effector (an organ (a gland or muscle) that becomes active in response to nerve impulses)

Derivation:

receive (register (perceptual input))

 Context examples 

A new study suggests that the NMDA receptor, a protein normally associated with learning and memory, may help neurons in the eye and the brain relay that information.

(Eye cells may use math to detect motion, NIH)

Activin receptor type-1 (509 aa, ~57 kDa) is encoded by the human ACVR1 gene.

(Activin Receptor Type-1, NCI Thesaurus)

Activin receptor type-1B (505 aa, ~57 kDa) is encoded by the human ACVR1B gene.

(Activin Receptor Type-1B, NCI Thesaurus)

Activin receptor type-1C (493 aa, ~55 kDa) is encoded by the human ACVR1C gene.

(Activin Receptor Type-1C, NCI Thesaurus)

The determination of the amount of acetylcholine receptor antibody present in a sample.

(Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

Activin receptor type-2A (513 aa, ~58 kDa) is encoded by the human ACVR2A gene.

(Activin Receptor Type-2A, NCI Thesaurus)

DREADDs are protein receptors altered in a lab so that only a specific synthetic chemical can bind and activate them.

(Controlling Brain Circuits in Mice, NIH)

Acolbifene hydrochloride binds to estrogen receptors in the body and blocks the effects of estrogen in the breast.

(Acolbifene hydrochloride, NCI Dictionary)

Blocking orexin receptors with a drug also blocked the anxiety-like behavior.

(The Mechanism of Panic Attacks, NIH, US)

It is a type of antiasthmatic agent and a leukotriene receptor antagonist.

(Accolate, NCI Dictionary)