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The sense by which the mind, through certain nerves of the body, perceives external objects, or certain states of the body itself; that one of the five senses which resides in the general nerves of sensation distributed over the body, especially in its surface; the sense of touch; nervous sensibility to external object…

as, in a good sense, modest, graceful, affectionate, confiding; or, in a bad sense, weak, nerveless, timid, pleasure- loving, effeminate. Her heavenly form Angelic, but more soft and feminine. Milton. Ninus being esteemed no man of war at all, but altogether feminine, and subject to ease and delicacy. Sir W. Raleigh.…

p.pr. of fragrare to emit a smell of fragrance: cf. OF. fragrant. Affecting the olfactory nerves agreeably; sweet of smell; odorous; having or emitting an agreeable perfume. Fragrant the fertile earth After soft showers. Milton.

To break into small pieces or fragments. Break all nerves, and fritter all their sense. Pope. To fritter away, to diminish; to pare off; to reduce to nothing by taking away a little at a time; also, to waste piecemeal; as, to fritter away time, strength, credit, etc.

A mass or knot of nervous matter, including nerve cells, usually forming an enlargement in the course of a nerve.

es of fishes. They have an arterial cone and bulb, spiral intestinal valve, and the optic nerves united by a chiasma. Many of the species are covered with bony plates, or with ganoid scales; others have cycloid scales.

rian ganglion (Anat.), a large ganglion, at the root of the trigeminal, or fifth cranial, nerve.

ertaining to the genital organs and the thigh; -- applied especially to one of the lumbar nerves.

ng to both the tongue and the pharynx; -- applied especially to the ninth pair of cranial nerves, which are distributed to the pharynx and tongue. -- n. One of the glossopharyngeal nerves.

Pertaining to, or subservient to, the sense of taste; as, the gustatory nerve which supplies the front of the tongue.

to inveigle; hence, to impede in motion or progress; to embarrass; to encumber. "Hampered nerves." Blackmore. A lion hampered in a net. L'Estrange. They hamper and entangle our souls. Tillotson.

A nerve or tendon, supposed to brace and sustain the heart. Shak. Sobbing, as if a hearstring broke. Moore.

Of or pertaining to the rectum; rectal; as, the hemorrhoidal arteries, veins, and nerves.

The part of a gland, or similar organ, where the blood vessels and nerves enter; the hilus; as, the hilum of the kidney.

Having the main artery of the leg parallel with the sciatic nerve; -- said of certain birds.

on of some powers, and an unusual activity of others. It is induced by an action upon the nerves, through the medium of the senses, as in persons of very feeble organization, by gazing steadly at a very bright object held before the eyes, or by pressure upon certain points of the surface of the body.…

ongue; -- applied esp., in the higher vertebrates, to the twelfth or last pair of cranial nerves, which are distributed to the base of the tongue. -- n.

Adapted for cutting; of or pertaining to the incisors; incisive; as, the incisor nerve; an incisor foramen; an incisor tooth.

motion; -- applied to that action which, in the case of muscular motion, commences in the nerve centers, and excites the muscles to contraction. Opposed to excito-motor.

use; as, a fever induced by fatigue or exposure. Sour things induces a contraction in the nerves. Bacon.