taste

taste, response to chemical stimulation that enables an organism to detect flavors. In man and most vertebrate animals, taste is produced by the stimulation by various substances of the taste buds on the mucous membrane of the tongue. A taste bud consists of about 20 long, slender cells; a tiny hair projects from each cell to the surface of the tongue through a tiny pore. The taste cells contain the endings of nerve filaments that convey impulses to the taste center in the brain. Only four fundamental tastes, or a combination of these, can be detected by the buds: sweet, sour, salt, and bitter. Only the buds most sensitive to salty flavor are scattered evenly over the tongue. Sweet-sensitive taste buds are concentrated on the tip of the tongue, sour flavors are detected at the sides of the tongue, and bitter flavors at the back. The close relationship of taste to smell gives the impression that a greater variety of tastes exists. This is also why an impairment of smell, as during a cold, may impart the feeling that the sense of taste is diminished.

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taste

 or taste perception

A. Taste centres on the tongue's surface. Taste buds on the tip of the tongue are most sensitive to …

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Special sense for perceiving and distinguishing the sweet, sour, bitter, or salty quality of a dissolved substance, mediated by taste buds on the tongue. More than 9,000 taste buds on the tongue are responsible for the chemoreception of taste. Some taste buds are also found on the roof of the mouth and throat.

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1.		taste - (primarily MIT) The quality of a program that tends to be inversely proportional to the number of features, hacks, and kluges it contains. Taste refers to sound judgment on the part of the creator. See also elegant, flavour.
2.		taste - Alternative spelling of "tayste".