Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: Latin
Origin: 'sharp stick for making animals move'

stimulus

 noun
     
Related topics: Biology
stim‧u‧lus plural stimuli
1 [countable usually singular, uncountable] something that helps a process to develop more quickly or more strongly:
Tax cuts provided the stimulus which the slow economy needed.
stimulus to
The discovery of oil acted as a stimulus to industrial development.
2 [countable]HB something that makes someone or something move or react:
At this age, the infant begins to react more to visual stimuli.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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