- either of the ninth pair of cranial nerves, consisting of motor fibers that innervate the muscles of the pharynx, the soft palate, and the parotid glands, and of sensory fibers that conduct impulses to the brain from the pharynx, the middle ear, and the posterior third of the tongue.
- the ninth cranial nerve, which supplies the muscles of the pharynx, the tongue, the middle ear, and the parotid gland
