SYNAPSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does synapse mean? 

• SYNAPSE (noun)
  The noun SYNAPSE has 1 sense:

1. the junction between two neurons (axon-to-dendrite) or between a neuron and a muscle

  Familiarity information: SYNAPSE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SYNAPSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The junction between two neurons (axon-to-dendrite) or between a neuron and a muscle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Context example:

nerve impulses cross a synapse through the action of neurotransmitters

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

colligation; conjugation; conjunction; junction (the state of being joined together)

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

myoneural junction; neuromuscular junction (the junction between a nerve fiber and the muscle it supplies)

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

nerve; nervus (any bundle of nerve fibers running to various organs and tissues of the body)

Derivation:

synaptic ((neuroscience) of or involving synapses)

 Context examples 

In developing rat neurons, we found that Shank 2 and 3 accumulate at synapses in parallel with a switch to mature AMPARs.

(Zinc Deficiency during Pregnancy Linked to Autism in Babies, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Cholesterol also has an important role for the brain synapses as well as in the immune system.

(Cholesterol, NCI Thesaurus)

A synapse between dendrites of two neurons.

(Dendrodendritic Synapse, NCI Thesaurus)

A synapse in which electrical connection is made directly through the cytoplasm, via gap junctions.

(Electrical Synapse, NCI Thesaurus)

A functional part or structural element of a chemical synapse.

(Chemical Synapse Component, NCI Thesaurus)

During early development of the nervous system, neurons elongate their axons towards their targets and establish and maintain synapses through formation of cell-cell adhesions.

(Cell Adhesion Molecule Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

A synapse between the axon of one neuron and the cell body of another neuron.

(Axosomatic Synapse, NCI Thesaurus)

A synapse between the axons of two neurons.

(Axoaxonic Synapse, NCI Thesaurus)

Acetylcholine is removed from synapses through degradation by the enzyme acetylcholinesterase.

(Attenuation of GPCR Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

This protein may be involved in synapse function or hematopoiesis.

(Brain and Acute Leukemia Cytoplasmic Protein, NCI Thesaurus)