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cell Definition

cell (sel)

noun

  1. a small convent or monastery attached to a larger one
  2. a hermit's hut
  3. a small room or cubicle, as in a convent or prison
  4. a very small hollow, cavity, or enclosed space; specif.,
    1. any of the compartments in a honeycomb
    2. a small, hollow space in tissue, esp. in bone
    3. the space of an insect's wings enclosed by the veins
    4. any compartment of an ovary; also, a pollen sac or spore sac
  5. any of the smallest organizational units of a group or movement, as of a Communist party
  6. Biol. a very small, complex unit of protoplasm, usually with a nucleus, cytoplasm, and an enclosing membrane: all plants and animals are made up of one or more cells that usually combine to form various tissues
  7. Elec.
    1. an open or sealed container holding electrodes and an electrolyte, used to generate electricity by chemical reactions or to decompose compounds by electrolysis
    2. any compartment of a storage battery
    3. a unit within any device, as a solar battery, that produces voltage by converting radiant energy into electrical energy

Etymology: ME < OE < OFr celle < L cella, small room, hut (LL(Ec), monastic cell) < IE base *kel-, to conceal > hall, hell, hull, Goth halja

cell Related Forms
celled adjective
cell Synonyms

cell

n.

  1. Any small container or space

    compartment, cavity, receptacle; see container, hole 2.

  2. A unit of a living organism

    corpuscle, cellule, microorganism, spore, organism, egg, protoplasm, cytoplasm, vacuole, protoplast, embryo, germ, follicle, red blood cell, erythrocyte, white blood cell, leukocyte, hemocyte.

  3. A small room

    cubicle, vault, hold, pen, cage, hole, coop, dungeon, keep, chamber, den, recess, retreat, alcove, niche, crypt, crib, nook, burrow, stall, closet, booth, cloister, antechamber, compartment, number, lockup*; see also room 2.

  4. A unit of an organization

    group, block, claque, cadre; see faction 1, organization 3.

cell Telecom Definition
  1. In asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS) networks, a small protocol data unit (PDU) comprising 53 octets.The ATM cell consists of a header of 5 octets and payload of 48 octets.The small cell size offers the advantage of effectively supporting any type of data, including voice, fax, text, image, video, and multimedia, whether compressed or uncompressed and whether real-time or non-real-time. The fixed cell size offers the advantage of predictability, unlike the variable-length frames associated with services such as X.25, frame relay, and Ethernet, or the variablelength packets associated with the Internet Protocol (IP).This level of predictability yields much improved access control and congestion control. See also ATM, compression, Ethernet, frame relay, header, IP, non-real-time, packet, payload, PDU, real-time, SMDS, and X.25.
  2. In radio systems, a relatively small geographical area of coverage determined by factors such as frequency band, power level, and line of sight (LOS).The formal concept of radio cells dates back to 1947, when Bell Telephone engineers developed a radio system concept that included numerous, low-power transmit/receive antennas positioned throughout a metropolitan area. This sort of architecture served to increase the effective subscriber capacity of radio systems by breaking the area of coverage into cells, or smaller areas of coverage. Thereby, each frequency band could be reused in nonadjacent cells. Additionally, the cells can be split, or subdivided, further as the traffic demands of the system increase. In the context of radio telephony, including cellular telephony, cells can be characterized as falling into three broad descriptive categories, as illustrated in Figure C-2. Figure C-2: cell
cell Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • stem: There has been little success in any area except when using the patient's own adult stem cells to mend damaged organs and tissues.

Converse of subject

  • secrete: TIMPs are inhibitors of metalloproteases that are secreted by cells.

Adjective modifier

  • embryonic: The scientific establishment is not mentioning the embryos created, only to be destroyed in the process of extracting embryonic stem cells.
  • epithelial: The specialized intestinal epithelial cells are rapidly replaced by mature cells, so that immunoglobulins cannot be absorbed after 24-36 hours post-birth.
  • red: The red cells of the donation shall be tested twice.
  • endothelial: TSP is also found in monocytes and endothelial cells and it binds to heparin, fibronectin and collagen ( Lawler, 1986 ).
  • dendritic: Enhanced proliferation of CD4+ T cells induced by dendritic cells following antigen uptake in the presence of antibody.
  • solar: Physics impacts on all aspects of our technological society, from highspeed fibreoptic telecommunications and ultra-fast computing to solar cells and nuclear power.

Modifies a noun

  • carcinoma: Exposure to UVB increases the risk of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, two forms of non-melanoma skin cancer.
  • biology: Courses: Each course ( genetics, molecular cell biology, ecology, 4-year sandwich courses ) is outlined at a modular level.
  • membrane: Too high a concentration of calcium can kill brain cells, so these pumps in the cell membrane push the calcium out quickly.
  • phone: The blank card they are holding becomes the chosen card in the cell phone photo!
  • division: The BLM protein plays a role in helping ensure that chromosomes are copied properly during cell division.

Noun used with modifier

  • stem: In parallel, we are growing stem cells from prostate cancers.
  • T: AB - Sezary syndrome is a rare form of primary cutaneous T cell lymphoma.
  • blood: He made a complete recovery from the red blood cell breakdown.
  • nerve: The problem is that only 0.2 % of the damaged nerve cells are replaced.
  • fuel: The oxygen needed by a fuel cell is usually simply obtained from air.
  • sickle: Patients with sickle cell disease are treated at The Royal London.

Preposition: in

  • vitro: Therefore, we endeavored to determine if exposure of cultured mammalian cells in vitro to 2450 MHz radiation causes DNA damage.
cell Quotes

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.

—Gray,Thomas

   Hence loathe'  d Melancholy, Of Cerberus and blackest midnight born, In Stygian cave forlorn 'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy, Find out some uncouth cell, Where brooding Darkness spreads his jealous wings, And the night-raven sings.

—Milton,John

Life is foreach man a solitary cell whose walls are mirrors.

—O'Neill, Eugene Gladstone

And may at last my weary age Find out the peaceful hermitage, The hairy gown and mossy cell, Where I may sit and rightly spell Of every star that heaven doth shew, And every herb that sips the dew, Till old experience to attain To something like prophetic strain.

—Milton,John

In America all too few blows are struck into flesh.We kill the spirit here, we are experts at that.We use psychic bullets and kill each other cell by cell.

—Mailer, Norman Kingsley

The tiny madman in his padded cell.

—Nabokov,Vladimir

My Minister's room is like a padded cell, and in certain ways I am like a person who is suddenly certified a lunatic and put safely into this great, vast room, cut off from real life.Of course they don't behave quite like nurses, because the Civil Service is profoundly deferentialö'Yes, Minister! No, Minister! If you wish it, Minister!'

—Crossman, Richard Howard Stafford

   Porque, s |¤ , fuera de la celda esta¤  n nuestros opresores, pero adentro no. Aqu |¤ nadie oprime a nadie. Lo  u¤ nico que hay, de perturbador, para mi mente†cansada, o condicionada o deformada†es que alguien me quiere tratar bien, sin pedir nada a cambio. Because, well, outside of this cell we may have our oppressors, yes, but not inside.Here no one oppresses the other. The only thing that seems to disturb me† because I'm exhausted, or conditioned, or perverted†is that someone wants to be nice to me, without asking anything back for it.

—Puig, Manuel

Women have no wideness in them Theyare provident instead, Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts To eat dusty bread.

—Bogan, Louise