Meaning of reflex in English:

reflex

Pronunciation /ˈriːflɛks/

See synonyms for reflex

Translate reflex into Spanish

noun

1An action that is performed without conscious thought as a response to a stimulus.
‘a newborn baby is equipped with basic reflexes’
- ‘These are inhibitory reflexes, excited by deglutition, by gastric distension, and by intestinal dilatation.’
- ‘Secretion into the bloodstream is increased by the presence of food, particularly protein, in the stomach, and is also stimulated by neural reflexes.’
- ‘All his paradigm required was linking and relinking stimuli and responses: a salivary reflex, once produced by food, was now evoked by a bell signaling the coming of food.’
- ‘Neurologic examination revealed symmetric reflexes with normal sensation and strength.’
- ‘My patient still had a few elicitable neurological reflexes.’
- ‘It must be remembered that some individuals do not have a blink reflex, due to neuro-muscular problems with the eye, and therefore are at serious risk from this laser exposure.’
- ‘These receptors also excite the defecation reflex.’
- ‘Families frequently misdiagnose their loved ones' involuntary muscle reflexes as consciousness.’
- ‘Pavlov's studies investigated the way in which environmental stimuli inspired biological reflexes in animals.’
- ‘Deep tendon reflexes disappear within the first few days of symptom onset.’
- ‘Monitor urine output, deep tendon reflexes and serum levels.’
- ‘Sleep on your back - when the spit collects back there, it triggers a swallowing reflex.’
- ‘The medulla controls this involuntary swallowing reflex, although voluntary swallowing may be initiated by the cerebral cortex.’
- ‘Either mechanical tapping or electrical stimulation of the supraorbital regions may evoke the blink reflex.’
- ‘He saw people as conditioned reflexes, not souls with intentions, willpower and choice.’
- ‘They act on the brain to hold back the cough reflex.’
- ‘Two significant complications of lung transplantation include the impairment of the cough reflex and mucociliary clearance.’
- ‘Border Collies have a high startle reflex, which can sometimes endanger their lives.’
- ‘Elevation of the larynx during the swallowing reflex protects the airway and opens the upper esophageal sphincter.’
- ‘Thinking about your baby can stimulate the let-down reflex.’
1. 1.1(in reflexology) a response in a part of the body to stimulation of a corresponding point on the feet, hands, or head.
  as modifier ‘reflex points’
  ‘The reflexes in the feet are stimulated with various massage techniques to promote healing in the body.’
  ‘The points on the ear have their reflex to different bodily functions or organs.’
  ‘When the nervous system becomes involved, the muscle tendon bundles remain hypertonic and pain reflexes in the area are activated.’
  ‘Applying pressure to reflex points makes it possible to interact with the interconnected systems of the body at an energetic level and restore homeostatic function.’
2A thing which is determined by and reproduces the essential features or qualities of something else.
‘politics was no more than a reflex of economics’
- ‘This individualism was perhaps a natural reflex of an economy bursting forth from its medieval limitations.’
- ‘In doing so they constitute a public and communal reflex of that private, complex, individual and highly personal process through which people cope with, and come to terms with, the vicissitudes of life.’
- ‘Her feet followed his automatically, as a reflex from many hour of being tortured in etiquette, posture, and dance classes.’
- ‘That is to say, there are referential and quantificational uses of indefinite descriptions and these are a reflex of a genuine semantical ambiguity.’
1. 2.1A word formed by development from an earlier stage of a language.
  ‘Orza is the Italian reflex of a common Romance word generally thought to be of Latin origin.’
3 archaic A reflected source of light.
- ‘the reflex from the window lit his face’

adjective

1(of an action) performed without conscious thought as an automatic response to a stimulus.
‘sneezing is a reflex action’
- ‘The same event, however, can take place without a swallow as a reflex response to mechanical stimulation of the esophagus.’
- ‘In the respiratory tract, complex reflex responses to the gastric refluxate occur in children by three mechanisms.’
- ‘The mechanism by which the body senses and responds to changes in blood pressure by reflex vasodilation or contraction of peripheral vessels is impaired.’
- ‘We now know that this reflex response is initiated from the class of sensory receptors called muscle spindle receptors.’
- ‘The active ingredients in this were alkaloids of belladonna, which we now know had the effect of inhibiting cholinergic neurotransmission and thereby reflex bronchoconstriction.’
- ‘Later it becomes a reflex action in response to the baby's cry or just by thinking about the baby or feeding.’
- ‘It is a complex reflex response to the stimulation of the cough receptors of the lung.’
- ‘The tongue directs the bolus of chewed food to the pharynx as an initial step in the involuntary reflex swallowing mechanism.’
- ‘What he found was that every bird in a particular species has certain inflexible patterns of behavior, reflex responses to very specific stimuli.’
- ‘Muscle spindles are primarily influenced by changes in length and are responsible for reflex contraction of the skeletal muscles in response to stretching.’
- ‘Certainly, the very rapid respiratory rates seen during the tidal breathing collection in some of the children in this study must be attributed to reflex or cortical responses to testing.’
- ‘Almost as if it were a reflex response, journalists and some scientific researchers alike blame technology and changes to family life for childhood obesity.’
- ‘So in some quarters the reflex response to the presidential election of November 2004 has been to emphasise how little has changed.’
- ‘Hold fast - put one of your fingers in your baby's palm and enjoy his reflex response as he grips it tightly.’
- ‘Even the tears that fell were automatic, more a reflex action than reflection of any real emotion.’
- ‘During the initial inflammatory phase of this process the muscle responds with a reflex spasm which is the tightness or knot you can feel.’
- ‘The inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase failed to inhibit this response, and it also did not potentiate the reflex cholinergic contractions of the trachea produced by bradykinin.’
- ‘This suggests that reflex mechanisms are diminished during the transition to sleep.’
- ‘A cough is a reflex action to clear the airways of mucus, phlegm, irritants or a foreign body.’
- ‘In a reflex action the body cuts the supply of blood to the arms and legs preventing swimming, and people then sink and drown.’
instinctive, automatic, mechanical, involuntary, knee-jerk, reflexive, impulsive, intuitive, spontaneous, unconscious, subliminal, unthinking, unpremeditated, unconditioned, untaught, unlearned, unintentional, unwitting, inadvertent, accidental
View synonyms
2(of an angle) exceeding 180°.
3 rare (of light) reflected.
1. 3.1Bent or turned backwards.
2. 3.2(of a thought) directed or turned back upon the mind itself; introspective.
  ‘an act of consciousness is a reflex act with its own object, viz. the act of knowledge itself’