axon
noun
ax·on
| \ ˈak-ˌsän
\
\
variants:
or less commonly axone \ -ˌsōn
\
\
Definition of axon
: a usually long and single nerve-cell process that usually conducts impulses away from the cell body — see neuron illustration
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Other Words from axon
axonal
\ ˈak-sə-nᵊl
; ak-ˈsä- , -ˈsō- \
adjective
; ak-ˈsä- , -ˈsō- \
adjective
Examples of axon in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
After 90 days, axons — the nerve fibers that carry neurons’ outgoing messages — had connected with host neurons. — Lacy Schley, Discover Magazine, "State of Science: Neurons Are Surprising Researchers With Unexpected Abilities," 15 Jan. 2019 In fact, there are 774 motor axons—the long fibers stretching out from neurons in the spinal cord—that control all the muscle fibers in our biceps. — R. Douglas Fields, Scientific American, "Wristband Lets the Brain Control a Computer with a Thought and a Twitch," 27 Mar. 2018 This protein is engineered to bind to the RNA bar code so that the tag, too, is dragged along the axon. — Simon Makin, Scientific American, "“Bar Codes.” Could Trace Errant Brain Wiring in Autism and Schizophrenia," 30 Mar. 2018 Once inside a cell each virus expresses a unique 30-letter, or nucleotide, RNA sequence (a bar code consisting of the letters G, A, T, C), along with a protein that cells naturally transport along axons. — Simon Makin, Scientific American, "“Bar Codes.” Could Trace Errant Brain Wiring in Autism and Schizophrenia," 30 Mar. 2018 Its lone axon, pointing straight down, and whiskery dendritic spines, which receive signals from neighboring neurons, alone in an empty landscape: the canonical depiction of Cajal’s discovery that neurons are distinct entities. — Sharon Begley, STAT, "In ‘Beautiful Brain,’ the secrets of neurons emerge in Nobel-winning scientist’s ink and pencil drawings," 3 May 2018 In particular, the drugs appeared to fuel the growth of dendritic spines and axons, the appendages that brain cells of all sorts use to reach out in the darkness and create connections, or synapses, with other brain cells. — Melissa Healy, latimes.com, "Psychedelic drugs change brain cells in ways that could help fight depression, addiction and more," 12 June 2018 Cajal also developed the Theory of Dynamic Polarization, which poses that information flows in one direction — into a neuron’s dendrites, through its cell body, and out its axon. — Cate Mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, "A different sort of scan in ‘The Beautiful Brain’," 6 June 2018 This involves introducing into cells genes that produce proteins that fluoresce with a greenish glow, so they and their axons (neurons’ output wires) can be visualized with light microscopy. — Simon Makin, Scientific American, "“Bar Codes.” Could Trace Errant Brain Wiring in Autism and Schizophrenia," 30 Mar. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'axon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for axon
axon
noun
ax·on
| \ ˈak-ˌsän
\
\
Kids Definition of axon
: a long fiber that carries impulses away from a nerve cell
axon
noun
ax·on
| \ ˈak-ˌsän
\
\
variants:
also axone \ -ˌsōn
\
\
Medical Definition of axon
: a usually long and single nerve-cell process that usually conducts impulses away from the cell body