A peripheral nerve organ or mechanism for the reception and transmission of painful or injurious stimuli. [noci- + L. capio, to take]
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no·ci·cep·tor -'sep-tər n a receptor for injurious or painful stimuli: a pain sense organ
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n.
a receptor that responds to the stimuli responsible for the sensation of pain. Nociceptors may be interoceptor, responding to such stimuli as inflammation, or exteroceptor, sensitive to heat, etc.
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no·ci·cep·tor (no″sĭ-sepґtər) [noci- + -ceptor] a receptor for pain caused by injury to body tissues; the injury may be from physical stimuli such as mechanical, thermal, or electrical stimuli, or from chemical stimuli such as the presence of a toxin or an excess of a nontoxic substance. Most nociceptors are in either the skin (cutaneous n's) or the walls of viscera (visceral n's). nociceptive adjMedical dictionary. 2011.