spinal nerve

noun

plural spinal nerves

: any of the paired nerves which leave the spinal cord of a craniate vertebrate, supply muscles of the trunk and limbs, and connect with the nerves of the sympathetic nervous system, which arise by a short motor ventral root and a short sensory dorsal root, and of which there are 31 pairs in humans

Examples of spinal nerve in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead, the virus lies dormant in your cranial and spinal nerves for the rest of your life. — Stephanie Anderson Witmer, Glamour, 23 Apr. 2026

One such affliction is Tay-Sachs, a disease that disproportionately affects people of Ashkenazi descent and destroys brain and spinal nerve cells. — New Atlas, 7 Nov. 2025

Radiculopathy occurs when something presses on a spinal nerve, causing a sharp, burning, shooting pain; numbness; or weakness along the nerve's pathway. — Brandi Jones, Health, 6 Sep. 2025

Compression of the spinal nerves leads to pain, tingling, and weakness that radiates down the affected shoulder and arm. — Laura Dorwart, Verywell Health, 13 Aug. 2024

An epidural is a small catheter that injects a pain-relieving medication — either an anesthetic or steroid — into the space around your spinal nerves, known as the epidural space. — Alyssa Goldberg, USA TODAY, 2 Aug. 2024

Another electrode array on the spinal cord (6) stimulates the spinal nerves during this process, in hopes of encouraging regrowth and repair. — Chad Bouton, IEEE Spectrum, 26 Jan. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1683, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for spinal nerve

• conserve
• deserve
• manoeuvre
• observe
• preserve
• reserve
• subserve
• curve
• mirv
• serve
• swerve
• verve

Kids Definition

spinal nerve

noun

: any of the paired nerves which arise from the spinal cord and pass to various parts of the body and of which there are normally 31 pairs in human beings

Medical Definition

spinal nerve

noun

: any of the paired nerves which leave the spinal cord of a craniate vertebrate, supply muscles of the trunk and limbs, and connect with the nerves of the sympathetic nervous system, which arise by a short motor ventral root and a short sensory dorsal root, and of which there are 31 pairs in humans classified according to the part of the spinal cord from which they arise into 8 pairs of cervical nerves, 12 pairs of thoracic nerves, 5 pairs of lumbar nerves, 5 pairs of sacral nerves, and one pair of coccygeal nerves