taste buds

taste buds

Oval-shaped clusters of cells located on the tongue and lining of the mouth that contain special nerve endings that help give rise to the sense of taste.

Main Entry: taste bud
Function: noun
: an end organ that mediates the sensation of taste, lies chiefly in the epithelium of the tongue and especially in the walls of thecircumvallate papillae, and consists of a conical or flask-shaped mass made up partly of supporting cells and partly of neuroepithelial sensory cells terminating peripherally in short hairlikeprocesses which project into the pore in the overlying epithelium and by which communication with the mouth cavity is effected

taste bud n.
One of a number of flask-shaped receptor cell nests located in the epithelium of the papillae of the tongue and in the soft palate, epiglottis, and pharynx that mediate the sense of taste.