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cell

Cell has several different meanings, but all of them are similar. Whether it's in a prison or in your blood (or even in the political landscape), a cell is small room, space, or unit.

Blood consists of countless individual cells, as are virtually all of the organs of the body: skin, liver, lungs, brain, etc. The cell is the basic unit of all biology. A cell in a prison is the room in which a prisoner lives. But did you know that a cell can also be a small group of people devoted to a larger political cause? The government's security forces are constantly on the lookout for terrorist "sleeper cells" and would love to get the members of a sleeper cell into a prison cell.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: cell

1	n	(biology) the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; they may exist as independent units of life (as in monads) or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants and animals
2	n	small room in which a monk or nun lives
3	n	a small unit serving as part of or as the nucleus of a larger political movement
4	n	a device that delivers an electric current as the result of a chemical reaction
5	n	a hand-held mobile radiotelephone for use in an area divided into small sections, each with its own short-range transmitter/receiver

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: cell

n (biology) the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; they may exist as independent units of life (as in monads) or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants and animals

Types:: show 53 types...; hide 53 types...; recombinant
a cell or organism in which genetic recombination has occurred; blastomere
any cell resulting from cleavage of a fertilized egg; flagellated cell
any cell or one-celled organism equipped with a flagellum; fiber, fibre
any of several elongated, threadlike cells (especially a muscle fiber or a nerve fiber); Kupffer's cell
specialized cells in the liver that destroy bacteria, foreign proteins, and worn-out blood cells; beta cell
a cell that produces insulin in the isles of Langerhans in the pancreas; somatic cell, vegetative cell
any of the cells of a plant or animal except the reproductive cells; a cell that does not participate in the production of gametes; blastema
a mass of undifferentiated cells from which an organ or body part develops; fertilized ovum, zygote
(genetics) the diploid cell resulting from the union of a haploid spermatozoon and ovum (including the organism that develops from that cell); parthenote
a cell resulting from parthenogenesis; embryonic cell, formative cell
a cell of an embryo; acaryote, akaryocyte, akaryote
a cell without a nucleus (as an erythrocyte); germ cell, reproductive cell, sex cell
a spermatozoon or an ovum; a cell responsible for transmitting DNA to the next generation; gametocyte
an immature animal or plant cell that develops into a gamete by meiosis; polar body
a small cell containing little cytoplasm that is produced along with the oocyte and later discarded; Leydig cell, Leydig's cell
a cell in the testes that secretes the hormone testosterone; Sertoli cell, Sertoli's cell
elongated cells found in the seminiferous tubules of the testis; apparently they nourish the spermatids; plant cell
a cell that is a structural and functional unit of a plant; archespore, archesporium
primitive cell or group of cells from which a mother cell develops; daughter cell
a cell formed by the division or budding of another cell; mother cell
cell from which another cell of an organism (usually of a different sort) develops; arthrospore
one of a string of thick walled vegetative resting cells formed by some algae and fungi; arthrospore
a body that resembles a spore but is not an endospore; produced by some bacteria; choanocyte, collar cell
any of the flagellated cells in sponges having a collar of cytoplasm around the flagellum; they maintain a flow of water through the body; skin cell
any of the cells making up the skin; epithelial cell
one of the closely packed cells forming the epithelium; neoplastic cell
a cell that is part of tumor; heterozygote
(genetics) an organism having two different alleles of a particular gene and so giving rise to varying offspring; homozygote
(genetics) an organism having two identical alleles of a particular gene and so breeding true for the particular characteristic; bone cell
a cell that is part of a bone; blastocyte
an undifferentiated embryonic cell; ameloblast
a cell from which tooth enamel develops; bone-forming cell, osteoblast
a cell from which bone develops; erythroblast
a nucleated cell in bone marrow from which red blood cells develop; fibroblast
a cell from which connective tissue develops; neuroblast
a cell from which a nerve cell develops; blood cell, blood corpuscle, corpuscle
either of two types of cells (erythrocytes and leukocytes) and sometimes including platelets; phagocyte, scavenger cell
a cell that engulfs and digests debris and invading microorganisms; visual cell
one of the cells of the retina that is sensitive to light; adipose cell, fat cell
cells composed of fat; gamete
a mature sexual reproductive cell having a single set of unpaired chromosomes; oocyte
a female gametocyte that develops into an ovum after two meiotic divisions; spermatocyte
a male gametocyte that develops into four spermatids; muscle cell, muscle fiber, muscle fibre
an elongated contractile cell that forms the muscles of the body; nerve fiber, nerve fibre
a threadlike extension of a nerve cell; Schwann cell
any cell that covers the nerve fibers in the peripheral nervous system and forms the myelin sheath; nerve cell, neuron
a cell that is specialized to conduct nerve impulses; glial cell, neurogliacyte, neuroglial cell
a cell of the neuroglia; hybridoma
a hybrid cell resulting from the fusion of a lymphocyte and a tumor cell; used to culture a specific monoclonal antibody; labrocyte, mast cell, mastocyte
a large connective tissue cell that contains histamine and heparin and serotonin which are released in allergic reactions or in response to injury or inflammation; stem cell
an undifferentiated cell whose daughter cells may differentiate into other cell types (such as blood cells); target cell
any cell that has a specific receptor for an antigen or antibody or hormone or drug, or is the focus of contact by a virus or phagocyte or nerve fiber etc.; spore mother cell
cell from which a spore develops

Type of:: animate thing, living thing
a living (or once living) entity

n small room in which a monk or nun lives

Synonyms:: cubicle

Type of:: room
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling

n a room where a prisoner is kept

Synonyms:: jail cell, prison cell

Types:: show 7 types...; hide 7 types...; bullpen, detention cell, detention centre
a large cell where prisoners (people awaiting trial or sentence or refugees or illegal immigrants) are confined together temporarily; cooler, tank
a cell for violent prisoners; dungeon
a dark cell (usually underground) where prisoners can be confined; guardroom
a cell in which soldiers who are prisoners are confined; hold, keep
a cell in a jail or prison; sweatbox
small or narrow cell; oubliette
a dungeon with the only entrance or exit being a trap door in the ceiling

Type of:: room
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling

n any small compartment

“the cells of a honeycomb”

Type of:: compartment
a space into which an area is subdivided

n a small unit serving as part of or as the nucleus of a larger political movement

Synonyms:: cadre

Types:: show 5 types...; hide 5 types...; sleeper cell
a cell of sleepers; radical cell, terrorist cell
a cell of terrorists (usually 3 to 5 members); operational cell
a terrorist cell that performs clandestine activities; intelligence cell
a terrorist cell whose members are trained to perform reconnaissance and surveillance; auxiliary cell
a terrorist cell responsible for logistics; usually large and less compartmentalized than other terrorist cells

Type of:: political entity, political unit
a unit with political responsibilities

n a device that delivers an electric current as the result of a chemical reaction

Synonyms:: electric cell

Types:: show 9 types...; hide 9 types...; electrolytic cell
a cell containing an electrolyte in which an applied voltage causes a reaction to occur that would not occur otherwise (such as the breakdown of water into hydrogen and oxygen); fuel cell
cell that produces electricity by oxidation of fuel (hydrogen and oxygen or zinc and air); often used in electric cars; photovoltaic cell, solar cell
a cell that converts solar energy into electrical energy; secondary cell, storage cell
a cell that can be recharged; galvanic cell, primary cell, voltaic cell
an electric cell that generates an electromotive force by an irreversible conversion of chemical to electrical energy; cannot be recharged; Leclanche cell
voltaic cell that produces approximately 1.5 volts; mercury cell
a primary cell consisting of a zinc anode and a cathode of mercury oxide and an electrolyte of potassium hydroxide; standard cell
a primary cell used as a standard of electromotive force; wet cell
a primary voltaic cell having a liquid electrolyte

Type of:: electrical device
a device that produces or is powered by electricity

n a hand-held mobile radiotelephone for use in an area divided into small sections, each with its own short-range transmitter/receiver

Synonyms:: cellphone, cellular phone, cellular telephone, mobile phone

Type of:: radiophone, radiotelephone, wireless telephone
a telephone that communicates by radio waves rather than along cables

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