VASOMOTOR

vasomotor

(adjective) relating to the nerves and muscles that cause the blood vessels to constrict or dilate

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

vasomotor (not comparable)

Of or pertaining to the regulation of the diameter of blood vessels.

Source: Wiktionary

Vas`o*mo"tor, a. Etym: [L. vas a vessel + motor that which moves fr. movere to move.] (Physiol.)

Definition: Causing movement in the walls of vessels; as, the vasomotor mechanisms; the vasomotor nerves, a system of nerves distributed over the muscular coats of the blood vessels. Vasomotor center, the chief dominating or general center which supplies all the unstriped muscles of the arterial system with motor nerves, situated in a part of the medulla oblongata; a center of reflex action by the working of which afferent impulses are changed into efferent, -- vasomotor impulses leading either to dilation or constriction of the blood vessels.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition