blood plasma

noun

Definition of blood plasma

: the pale yellow fluid of whole blood that consists of water and its dissolved constituents including especially proteins (such as albumin, fibrinogen, and globulins)

Examples of blood plasma in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

One young man took public transportation to Van Nuys to sell his blood plasma — five visits, $300 — to get through the month. Los Angeles Times, "An entire L.A. homeless encampment moved into apartments. But their past still found them," 15 Aug. 2019 Compounding the problem is that hemoglobin, when unprotected in blood plasma, decomposes into its component globin subunits. Quanta Magazine, "Icefish Study Adds Another Color to the Story of Blood," 22 Apr. 2019 Oxygen simply diffuses into their circulating blood plasma from the frigid seawater by way of the fish’s enlarged gills and smooth skin. Quanta Magazine, "Icefish Study Adds Another Color to the Story of Blood," 22 Apr. 2019 About 50 proteins came from blood plasma, and their presence suggests bleeding gums. Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Medieval dental plaque sheds light on how our microbiomes have changed," 25 Nov. 2018 The more fearsome-sounding V-Plump, Ms. Barshop said, injects fillers and your own blood plasma into the labia majora to smooth and plump. Laren Stover, New York Times, "The Selfie That Dares to Go There," 7 July 2018 During fetal development, that RNA that’s excreted from cells into the blood plasma leaves behind clues about what development may have occurred. Julia Belluz, Vox, "Why doctors are so bad at predicting pregnancy due dates," 9 June 2018 The group was tasked with finding a way to stabilize blood plasma proteins so that soldiers could receive lifesaving transfusions in the field. Deborah Netburn, latimes.com, "Paul Boyer, who was awed by cells and won a Nobel Prize for deducing how they use energy, dies at 99," 7 June 2018 Terry lived in her truck for 11 months and sold her blood plasma to survive. Marsha Mercer, The Christian Science Monitor, "As sports betting expands, gambling addiction services fall behind," 18 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'blood plasma.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of blood plasma

1842, in the meaning defined above

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More Definitions for blood plasma

blood plasma

noun

Medical Definition of blood plasma

: the pale yellow fluid portion of whole blood that consists of water and its dissolved constituents including proteins (as albumin, fibrinogen, and globulins), electrolytes (as sodium and chloride), sugars (as glucose), lipids (as cholesterol and triglycerides), metabolic waste products (as urea), amino acids, hormones, and vitamins — compare serum entry 1 sense a(1)