Wiktionary
n. (context anatomy English) The nerve responsible for sensation and motor function in the face and mouth.
WordNet
n. the main sensory nerve of the face and motor nerve for the muscles of mastication [syn: trigeminal, trigeminus, nervus trigeminus, fifth cranial nerve]
Wikipedia
The trigeminal nerve (the fifth cranial nerve, or simply CN V) is a nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as biting and chewing. The largest of the cranial nerves, its name ("trigeminal" = tri-, or three and -geminus, or twin; thrice-twinned) derives from the fact that each trigeminal nerve (one on each side of the pons) has three major branches: the ophthalmic nerve (V), the maxillary nerve (V), and the mandibular nerve (V). The ophthalmic and maxillary nerves are purely sensory, and the mandibular nerve has sensory (or "cutaneous") and motor functions.
Sensory information from the face and body is processed by parallel pathways in the central nervous system. The motor division of the trigeminal nerve derives from the basal plate of the embryonic pons, and the sensory division originates in the cranial neural crest.
Usage examples of "trigeminal nerve".
The three million candles of energy turned the entire world into the face of the sun, and then the energy overload invaded the man's central nervous system along the trigeminal nerve, which runs from the back of the eye along the base of the brain, branching out through the neural network that controls the voluntary muscles.
The potter found the apex of the trigeminal nerve with his needle's point and gave him 60 cc.
She smiled as she set the knifepoint against the side of his face, just over the trigeminal nerve, barely breaking the skin.
His teeth ground against one another, sending sheets of pain through his trigeminal nerve.