How to Use receptor in a Sentence

receptor

noun
Definition of receptornext
  • The part attached to the receptor falls off, leaving the rest of the spike protein – S2 – in a new shape.
    — USA Today, 5 Mar. 2021
  • This is where the receptor agonist part of the name comes from.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 19 Sep. 2023
  • These sensors serve the same purpose as the receptors in your nose.
    — Ambuj Tewari, The Conversation, 30 May 2024
  • The receptor, called an ACE2 protein, is the doorknob, and the spike protein is the key that unlocks it.
    — National Geographic, 3 Apr. 2020
  • This structure is the part of the spike protein that attaches to the ACE2 receptor of the human cell.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2021
  • Opioids bind to certain parts of the brain, called mu receptors.
    — Kerry Breen, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2023
  • But the binding also had to be reversible so the drug could find its way to GLP-1 receptors in the pancreas.
    — Megan Molteni and Elaine Chen, STAT, 30 Sep. 2023
  • The medicine makes the brain receptor more sensitive to GABA.
    — Jonathan Saltzman, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Feb. 2023
  • The receptors are on the inside of your GI tract, so putting something on the outside is unlikely to help in the long run.
    — Julie Stewart, Men's Health, 28 Feb. 2023
  • Dogs have receptors for sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter tastes.
    — Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 1 Oct. 2024
  • In their lab studies, the team found that THC also binds to that receptor in blood vessels.
    — NBC News, 30 Apr. 2022
  • The receptor in the testes (ACE-2) in which the virus attaches is the same one as in the lungs, heart, intestines and kidneys, where it has been known to cause damage.
    — Cindy Krischer Goodman, sun-sentinel.com, 6 Nov. 2020
  • Rather, all of the key receptor types were sprinkled throughout New York and China alike.
    — Abigail Tucker, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Sep. 2022
  • The placenta, the new organ that forms to nourish the fetus, presents new receptors for the disease to bind to.
    — Zoya Teirstein, Vox, 30 May 2024
  • Psilocybin is a tryptamine that binds to serotonin receptor 5-HT2A in the brain.
    — Will Yakowicz, Forbes, 24 June 2021
  • Once on the surface, they can be recognized by a receptor on the surface of T-cells.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 2 Feb. 2022
  • The receptors, akin to keyholes, on human cells aren’t great matches to any of the subtypes keys higher than the H3.
    — Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 20 Dec. 2024
  • Some research teams are focusing on the ACE2 receptor, a protein found on the surface of the cells of many species.
    — New York Times, 22 Feb. 2022
  • An example is the gene that codes for the ACE2 receptor, a protein on the surface of cells that the virus uses to slip inside.
    — Grace Browne, WIRED, 12 Sep. 2022
  • Because the simplest versions of this just put in one new receptor.
    — Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 8 Mar. 2023
  • One way around the roadblock is to engineer mice that express both the mouse and the human versions of the receptor’s gene, ACE2.
    — Jon Cohen, Science | AAAS, 13 Apr. 2020
  • The team needed to make sure the ABA receptor could sense the pesticide but still be able to perform its usual job.
    — WIRED, 30 Oct. 2023
  • Your ability to savor food comes from the receptor cells in your tongue’s taste buds.
    — Ian Randall, Science | AAAS, 6 Oct. 2020
  • This region codes for a part of the viruses receptor binding domain -- the part of the virus that docks onto a door on the outside of our cells.
    — Brenda Goodman, CNN, 3 May 2022
  • Delta 8 like Delta 9 binds to the CB1 receptor in the brain, which is what gives cannabis its psychoactive properties.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 19 Oct. 2022
  • These special receptors are found not only in cells in the heart and lungs, but also in kidneys.
    — NBC News, 22 Apr. 2020
  • The receptor is found throughout our body, including the inside of our mouth.
    — Ken Kawada, Popular Mechanics, 29 Nov. 2022
  • And can the virus’s proteins recognize and bind to structures, known as receptors, on those cells?
    — Quanta Magazine, 25 Feb. 2020
  • The lateral line runs the length of the fish’s body and is connected to receptors in the fish’s skin to detect movements in the surrounding water.
    — Jack Tamisiea, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025
  • Moving forward, the biologists hope to look into how much ants can adapt their olfactory receptors based on these interactions to see if the knowledge translates on an even deeper level.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 8 Jan. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'receptor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: