nerve fiber

noun

: any of the processes (such as axons or dendrites) of a neuron

Examples of nerve fiber in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After a spinal cord injury, the body sends out signals that tell nerve fibers to stop growing. —Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2025

Glutamate triggers a bunch of positive ions to flood into a neuron, increasing its internal voltage and spurring it to fire an action potential, a strong burst of electricity that travels down a nerve fiber and makes the neuron release its own set of molecules to communicate with others, and so on. —Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 29 Sep. 2025

Damage to the cord often leads to cell death and prevents nerve fibers from reconnecting. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 5 Sep. 2025

Now a study published in Cell shows a complete, three-dimensional map of every single nerve fiber threading through a mouse. —Nora Bradford, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1847, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nerve fiber

• cyber
• fibre
• prescriber
• subscriber
• transcriber

Kids Definition

nerve fiber

noun

: any of the long thin parts that lead to or away from the cell body of a neuron and include axons and dendrites

Medical Definition

nerve fiber

noun

: any of the processes (as an axon or a dendrite) of a neuron