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Plural / 3rd person of cell. Showing the entry for cell.

cell

UK/sɛl/ US/ˈsɛl/ very common informal literary us

noun

1.

any small compartment

  • “the cells of a honeycomb”
2.

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

3.

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

Synonyms
4.

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

Synonyms
5.

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

Synonyms
6.

small room is which a monk or nun lives

Synonyms
7.

a room where a prisoner is kept

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English celle, selle, from Old English cell (attested in inflected forms), from Latin cella (“chamber, small room, compartment”), later reinforced by Old French cel, sele, Old French cele. Ultimately from Proto-Italic *kelnā, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelneh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cella and hall.

Phrases

  • absorption cell
  • air cell
  • alpha cell
  • angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma
  • antigen-presenting cell
  • APUD cell
  • auxiliary cell
  • band cell

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.