taste bud

noun

1. one of numerous small, flask-shaped bodies, chiefly in the epithelium of the tongue, which are the end organs for the sense of taste.

noun

1. any of the elevated oval-shaped sensory end organs on the surface of the tongue, by means of which the sensation of taste is experienced

n.

1. One of a number of flask-shaped receptor cell nests located in the epithelium of the papillae of the tongue and in the soft palate, epiglottis, and pharynx that mediate the sense of taste.

1. Any of numerous sense organs in most vertebrate animals that are specialized to detect taste. Taste buds are sensitive to four types of taste: sweet, sour, salty, or bitter. In land vertebrates, the taste buds are found on the surface of the tongue. Fish have taste buds all over their bodies.