Stimulate to Stipule
Stimulate
(Stim"u*late) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stimulated ; p. pr. & vb. n. Stimulating.] [L. stimulatus,
p. p. of stimulare to prick or goad on, to incite, fr. stimulus a goad. See Stimulus.]
1. To excite as if with a goad; to excite, rouse, or animate, to action or more vigorous exertion by some
pungent motive or by persuasion; as, to stimulate one by the hope of reward, or by the prospect of glory.
To excite and stimulate us thereunto.
Dr. J. Scott. 2. (Physiol.) To excite; to irritate; especially, to excite the activity of (a nerve or an irritable muscle), as
by electricity.
Syn. — To animate; incite; encourage; impel; urge; instigate; irritate; exasperate; incense.
Stimulation
(Stim`u*la"tion) n. [L. stimulatio: cf. F. stimulation.]
1. The act of stimulating, or the state of being stimulated.
2. (Physiol.) The irritating action of various agents (stimuli) on muscles, nerves, or a sensory end organ,
by which activity is evoked; especially, the nervous impulse produced by various agents on nerves, or a
sensory end organ, by which the part connected with the nerve is thrown into a state of activity; irritation.
Stimulative
(Stim"u*la*tive) a. Having the quality of stimulating. — n. That which stimulates.
Stimulator
(Stim"u*la`tor) n. [L.: cf. F. stimulateur.] One who stimulates.
Stimulatress
(Stim"u*la`tress) n. A woman who stimulates.
Stimulism
(Stim"u*lism) n. (Med.) (a) The theory of medical practice which regarded life as dependent
upon stimulation, or excitation, and disease as caused by excess or deficiency in the amount of stimulation.
(b) The practice of treating disease by alcoholic stimulants. Dr. H. Hartshorne.
Stimulus
(Stim"u*lus) n.; pl. Stimuli [L., for stigmulus, akin to L. instigare to stimulate. See Instigare,
Stick, v. t.]
1. A goad; hence, something that rouses the mind or spirits; an incentive; as, the hope of gain is a powerful
stimulus to labor and action.
2. That which excites or produces a temporary increase of vital action, either in the whole organism
or in any of its parts; especially (Physiol.), any substance or agent capable of evoking the activity of a
nerve or irritable muscle, or capable of producing an impression upon a sensory organ or more particularly
upon its specific end organ.
Of the stimuli applied to the sensory apparatus, physiologists distinguish two kinds: (a) Homologous
stimuli, which act only upon the end organ, and for whose action the sense organs are especially adapted,
as the rods and cones of the retina for the vibrations of the either. (b) Heterologous stimuli, which are
mechanical, chemical, electrical, etc., and act upon the nervous elements of the sensory apparatus along
their entire course, producing, for example, the flash of light beheld when the eye is struck. Landois &
Stirling.
Sting
(Sting) n. [AS. sting a sting. See Sting, v. t.]
1. (Zoöl.) Any sharp organ of offense and defense, especially when connected with a poison gland, and
adapted to inflict a wound by piercing; as the caudal sting of a scorpion. The sting of a bee or wasp is
a modified ovipositor. The caudal sting, or spine, of a sting ray is a modified dorsal fin ray. The term is
sometimes applied to the fang of a serpent. See Illust. of Scorpion.
