chemoreceptor

noun

che·​mo·​re·​cep·​tor ˌkē-mō-ri-ˈsep-tər 

: a sense organ (such as a taste bud) responding to chemical stimuli

Examples of chemoreceptor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The activation of chemoreceptors (sensory nerve cells that detect low levels of oxygen in the blood). — Colleen Doherty, Verywell Health, 2 Aug. 2025

This can make your chemoreceptors, the specialized sensors in your brain stem and arteries that monitor CO₂ levels in your blood, overly sensitive, causing feelings of breathlessness even when oxygen levels are adequate. — Dana Santas, CNN Money, 4 July 2025

All these substances can stimulate what’s called the chemoreceptor trigger zone in your brainstem, which communicates with another brain region called the vomiting center. — Patrick Wilson, Outside Online, 15 June 2020

In fact, the vomiting in motion sickness is induced by the same area of the brain — the chemoreceptor trigger zone in the medulla — that causes vomiting in response to poisons. — Quanta Magazine, 30 Jan. 2018

These results demonstrate rapid remodelling of the chemoreceptor repertoire as an adaptation to specific environments, and indicate that parallel changes to a common genetic substrate can affect life-history traits across species. — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 19 Aug. 2011

Word History

Etymology

chemo- + receptor, after chemoreception

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chemoreceptor

• adrenoceptor
• baroreceptor
• photoreceptor
• acceptor
• preceptor
• receptor
• interceptor
• scepter
• sceptre

Medical Definition

chemoreceptor

noun

che·​mo·​re·​cep·​tor -ri-ˈsep-tər 

variants also chemoceptor

ˈkē-mō-ˌsep-tər also ˈkem-ō-

: a sense organ (as a taste bud) responding to chemical stimuli