stimulus

n.促进因素; 激励因素; 刺激物; (使生物产生反应的)刺激

复数：stimuli

牛津词典

noun

促进因素；激励因素；刺激物something that helps sb/sth to develop better or more quickly

Books provide children with ideas and a stimulus for play.书不仅给孩子们以思想，而且使他们玩得更有意思。

The new tax laws should act as a stimulus to exports.新税法应该能促进出口。

（使生物产生反应的）刺激，刺激物something that produces a reaction in a human, an animal or a plant

sensory/verbal/visual stimuli感官 / 言语 / 视觉刺激

The animals were conditioned to respond to auditory stimuli (= sounds) .经过训练，那些动物对声音形成了条件反射。