REFLEX • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Reflex

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/rˈiflɛks/ Listen

noun

Reflex n.

1.

Reflection; the light reflected from an illuminated surface to one in shade. "Yon gray is not the morning's eye, 'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow." "On the depths of death there swims The reflex of a human face."

2.

(Physiol.) An involuntary movement produced by reflex action.

Patellar reflex. See Knee jerk, under Knee.

adjective

Reflex adj.

1.

Directed back; attended by reflection; retroactive; introspective. "The reflex act of the soul, or the turning of the intellectual eye inward upon its own actions."

2.

Produced in reaction, in resistance, or in return.

3.

(Physiol.) Of, pertaining to, or produced by, stimulus or excitation without the necessary intervention of consciousness.

Reflex action (Physiol.), any action performed involuntarily in consequence of an impulse or impression transmitted along afferent nerves to a nerve center, from which it is reflected to an efferent nerve, and so calls into action certain muscles, organs, or cells.

Reflex nerve (Physiol.), an excito-motory nerve. See Exito-motory.

verb

Reflex v. t.

1.

To reflect. (Obs.)

2.

To bend back; to turn back.

See images of 'Reflex'

Etymology of 'Reflex'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Reflex" Quotes from Famous Books

... carnivorous animals to approach their prey unperceived. Two other explanations have, however, been suggested. One is, that the prevalent white of the arctic regions has a direct effect in producing the white colour in animals, either by some photographic or chemical action on the skin or by a reflex action through vision. The other is, that the white colour is chiefly beneficial as a means of checking radiation and so preserving animal heat during the severity of an arctic winter. The first is part of the general theory that colour is the effect of coloured ...

— Darwinism (1889) • Alfred Russel Wallace

... becomes so intense that voluntary effort cannot overcome it. So no man can produce asphyxia by simply holding his breath, because the besoin de respirer becomes irresistible; but it is quite possible for a narcotic to so dull the sensory part of the respiratory reflex mechanism as to permit ...

— Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why - What Medical Writers Say • Martha M. Allen

... which you are inwardly conscious; but to speak to another about Christ involves that there should be an absolutely clear sky between the speaker and the Lord of whom he speaks. But as this practice is the most difficult, it is the most blessed in its reflex influence. To lead another to Jesus is to get nearer Him. To chafe the limbs of some frozen companion is to send the warm blood rushing through your own veins. To go after one lost sheep is to share the shepherd's joy. Whether by ...

— John the Baptist • F. B. Meyer

... lance with the windmill—the image suggested by M. de Kercadiou persisted in his mind—and it was, he perceived, by sheer good fortune that he had escaped without hurt. There remained the wind itself—the whirlwind. And the events in Rennes, reflex of the graver events in Nantes, had set that wind ...

— Scaramouche - A Romance of the French Revolution • Rafael Sabatini

... closed, only here and there a cart, offering turnips, cabbages, parsnips, carrots, etc., at outrageous prices. However, the super-abundant paper money is beginning to flow into the Treasury, and that reflex of the financial tide may produce salutary results a ...

— A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital • John Beauchamp Jones

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