taste bud

noun

: an end organ mediating the sensation of taste and lying chiefly in the epithelium of the tongue

Examples of taste bud in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These soups and stews are packed with seasonal vegetables that are good for your body and good to your taste buds. —Ashlyn Ware, Midwest Living, 8 Jan. 2026

Slide into a booth and prepare for your taste buds to dance over crusty rosemary and focaccia shellacked with tomato and sea urchin butter, and flaky halibut adorned with marigolds and tangy mushrooms. —Kristin Braswell, Travel + Leisure, 5 Jan. 2026

The whole thing crunches, melts, zings and primes the taste buds for more. —Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2026

But alas, if your taste buds simply yearn for a change of pace, the styles below still offer the texture and complexity found in the best amber wines around the world. —Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 31 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1879, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for taste bud

• waterflood
• blood
• crud
• dud
• flood
• mud
• rud
• scud
• spud
• stud
• thud
• lifeblood

Kids Definition

taste bud

noun

: any of the sense organs by means of which taste is recognized and which are usually on the surface of the tongue

Medical Definition

taste bud

noun

: an end organ that mediates the sensation of taste, lies chiefly in the epithelium of the tongue and especially in the walls of the circumvallate papillae, and consists of a conical or flask-shaped mass made up partly of supporting cells and partly of neuroepithelial sensory cells terminating peripherally in short hairlike processes which project into the pore in the overlying epithelium and by which communication with the mouth cavity is effected