Meaning & use
free nerve ending
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablebiologymedical
The bare tip of a sensory nerve fiber, with no protective capsule, that picks up signals such as pain, heat, cold, and light touch.
Grammar: Usually plural in general descriptions: free nerve endings in the skin.
Patterns
- free nerve endings in something
- free nerve endings detect something
Free nerve endings in the fingertips sent a pain signal as soon as she touched the hot pan.
The cornea is rich in free nerve endings, which is why a speck of dust hurts so much.
Researchers studied how free nerve endings respond to cold.
Word forms
| plural | free nerve endings |
|---|
Common combinations
- free nerve endings in the skin
- Free nerve endings in the skin respond to temperature changes.
- pain receptors
- Free nerve endings act as pain receptors throughout the body.
- stimulate free nerve endings
- Chili peppers stimulate free nerve endings in the mouth.
- encapsulated receptor
- Unlike an encapsulated receptor, a free nerve ending has no protective sheath.
Synonyms and how they differ
- nociceptor
- A nociceptor is a receptor specialized for pain, and many free nerve endings function as nociceptors, but the term fits only the pain role.
- sensory receptor
- Sensory receptor is the broad category covering all types, while free nerve ending names one simple structural kind.
Word family
Commonly confused: free nerve ending or Pacinian corpuscle?
free nerve ending vs Pacinian corpuscle
A Pacinian corpuscle is an encapsulated receptor that detects pressure and vibration; a free nerve ending lacks any such capsule.
Practice
Which statement best describes a free nerve ending?
Choose one answer.
Free means the ending has no capsule. The first option describes an encapsulated receptor, the tempting wrong answer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “free nerve ending”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.