red blood cell

/rɛd bləd sɛl/

/rɛd bləd sɛl/

Other forms: red blood cells

Red blood cells are an important part of your blood, with the important job of carrying oxygen throughout your body. Humans have as many as 30 trillion red blood cells.

Red blood cells are also called erythrocytes. They move constantly in the human body, picking up oxygen in the lungs and delivering it to the heart, which spreads oxygen through the body with every pump of blood. Red blood cells also contain hemoglobin, a protein rich in iron that gives blood its red color. If you don't get enough iron in your diet, your body can't make the hemoglobin your red blood cells need.

Definitions of red blood cell

1. noun

   a mature blood cell that contains hemoglobin to carry oxygen to the bodily tissues; a biconcave disc that has no nucleus
   synonyms: RBC, erythrocyte

   types:

   macrocyte, megalocyte

   abnormally large red blood cell (associated with pernicious anemia)

   megaloblast

   abnormally large red blood cell present in pernicious anemia and folic acid deficiency

   acanthocyte

   an abnormal red blood cell that has thorny projections of protoplasm

   microcyte

   an abnormally small red blood cell (less than 5 microns in diameter)

   reticulocyte

   an immature red blood cell containing a network of filaments or granules

   sickle cell

   an abnormal red blood cell that has a crescent shape and an abnormal form of hemoglobin

   siderocyte

   an abnormal red blood cell containing granules of iron not bound in hemoglobin

   spherocyte

   an abnormal spherical red blood cell

   target cell

   an abnormal red blood cell with the appearance of a dark ring surrounding a dark center; associated with anemia

   type of:

   blood cell, blood corpuscle, corpuscle

   either of two types of cells (erythrocytes and leukocytes) and sometimes including platelets