knee-jerk

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

knee-jerk • n. a sudden involuntary reflex kick caused by a blow on the tendon just below the knee. • adj. (of a response) automatic and unthinking: a knee-jerk reaction. ∎ (of a person) responding in this way: knee-jerk radicals.

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Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	knee-jerk Book article from: The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English knee-jerk • n. a sudden involuntary reflex kick...of a response) automatic and unthinking: a knee-jerk reaction. ∎ (of a person) responding in this way: knee-jerk radicals.
	knee-jerk reflex Book article from: A Dictionary of Biology knee-jerk reflex See stretch reflex .
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	reflexes Book article from: The Oxford Companion to the Body ...best-known reflexes is the tendon jerk reflex . When a tendon is tapped...twitch. An example is the ‘knee-jerk reflex’; a tap to the patellar...tendon (just below the front of the knee) causes a reflex twitch in the quadriceps...
	quadriceps Book article from: The Oxford Companion to the Body ...above to the femur itself. Above the knee they curve in from the sides, accounting...the one that is tapped to elicit a knee-jerk reflex ). This in turn is attached...skeletal system .See also hip ; knee ; posture ; reflexes ; walking .