| / English Dictionary |
WHITE CELL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Blood cells that engulf and digest bacteria and fungi; an important part of the body's defense system
Synonyms:
leucocyte; leukocyte; WBC; white blood cell; white blood corpuscle; white cell; white corpuscle
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("white cell" is a kind of...):
blood cell; blood corpuscle; corpuscle (either of two types of cells (erythrocytes and leukocytes) and sometimes including platelets)
free phagocyte (a phagocyte that circulates in the blood)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "white cell"):
myelocyte (an immature leukocyte normally found in bone marrow)
myeloblast (a precursor of leukocytes that normally occurs only in bone marrow)
lymph cell; lymphocyte (an agranulocytic leukocyte that normally makes up a quarter of the white blood cell count but increases in the presence of infection)
granulocyte (a leukocyte that has granules in its cytoplasm)
monocyte (a type of granular leukocyte that functions in the ingestion of bacteria)
basophil; basophile (a leukocyte with basophilic granules easily stained by basic stains)
neutrophil; neutrophile (the chief phagocytic leukocyte; stains with either basic or acid dyes)
eosinophil; eosinophile (a leukocyte readily stained with eosin)
Context examples:
A state of bone marrow suppression and failure that is caused by a cytotoxic or adverse immunologic response to a drug treatment, leading to a failure of production of red blood cells, white cells and platelets.
(Drug-Induced Aplastic Anemia, NCI Thesaurus)
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