depressor

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an anatomical muscle that lowers or draws down a body part

   The depressor at the corner of the mouth helps produce a downturned expression.

2. 2
   noun

   a nerve whose activity reduces the activity, pressure, or tone of the part it supplies

   Stimulation of the depressor nerve lowered the animal's blood pressure.

3. 3
   noun

   a medical instrument used to press a body part down or aside during examination or surgery

   The clinician used a tongue depressor to inspect the patient's throat.

From depress + the agent suffix -or, ultimately from Latin deprimere ('to press down'), from de- ('down') + premere ('to press'). Anatomists use depressor for a muscle or nerve that lowers a structure or its activity; medicine also uses it for an instrument that presses tissue aside.

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