vagus nerve

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Either of the tenth and longest of the cranial nerves, passing through the neck and thorax into the abdomen and supplying sensation to part of the ear, the tongue, the larynx, and the pharynx, motor impulses to the vocal cords, and motor and secretory impulses to the abdominal and thoracic viscera.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun anatomy Either of the tenth pair of cranial nerves, which extends from the brainstem down into the abdomen. Branches of these important nerves supply the tongue, larynx, lungs, gut, and heart.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a mixed nerve that supplies the pharynx and larynx and lungs and heart and esophagus and stomach and most of the abdominal viscera