cell
noun
\ ˈsel
\
\
Definition of cell
1
: a small religious house dependent on a monastery or convent
2a
: a one-room dwelling occupied by a solitary person (such as a hermit)
b
: a single room (as in a convent or prison) usually for one person
3
: a small compartment, cavity, or bounded space: such as
a
: one of the compartments of a honeycomb
b
: a membranous area bounded by veins in the wing of an insect
4
: a small usually microscopic mass of protoplasm bounded externally by a semipermeable membrane, usually including one or more nuclei and various other organelles with their products, capable alone or interacting with other cells of performing all the fundamental functions of life, and forming the smallest structural unit of living matter capable of functioning independently
5a(1)
: a receptacle containing electrodes and an electrolyte either for generating electricity by chemical action or for use in electrolysis
(2)
: fuel cell
b
: a single unit in a device for converting radiant energy into electrical energy or for varying the intensity of an electrical current in accordance with radiation (see radiation sense 1)
6
: a unit in a statistical array (see array entry 2 sense 5) (such as a spreadsheet) formed by the intersection of a column and a row
7
: a basic and usually small unit of an organization or movement
terrorist cells
8
: a portion of the atmosphere that behaves as a unit
a storm cell
9a
: any of the small sections of a geographic area of a cellular (see cellular entry 1 sense 3) telephone system
b
: cell phone
Illustration of cell
cell 4 (schematic): A plant, B animal; 1 cell wall, 2 middle lamella, 3 plasma membrane, 4 mitochondrion, 5 vacuole, 6 Golgi apparatus, 7 cytoplasm, 8 nuclear membrane, 9 nucleolus, 10 nucleus, 11 chromatin, 12 endoplasmic reticulum with associated ribosomes, 13 chloroplast, 14 centriole, 15 lysosome
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Examples of cell in a Sentence
The suspect was in the police station's holding cell overnight.
his mission was to locate and infiltrate the terrorist cell that was believed to be hiding in the city
Recent Examples on the Web
Rather than arresting someone who will be released back into a bad situation, Singer said, the crisis response team can help direct them to services rather than a jail cell. — Jon Kelvey, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "Hogan gives Carroll funds for opioid disorders," 2 Sep. 2019 The Cuyahoga County Jail was designed to be a holding cell. — Phillip Morris, cleveland.com, "Cuyahoga County jail should have never become a prison: Phillip Morris," 1 Sep. 2019 Three Israeli teenagers were also kidnapped and murdered that summer by members of a cell belonging to the militant Islamist group Hamas. — Washington Post, "Netanyahu calls for boycott of Israeli TV channel over ‘anti-Semitic’ series," 31 Aug. 2019 Aswad Pops, 48, was being housed in a single cell at San Quentin State Prison, which holds all condemned male inmates in the state. — Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, "Condemned inmate’s death in San Quentin investigated as a suicide," 30 Aug. 2019 Prince Andrew, the 59-year-old second son of Queen Elizabeth II, has faced intensifying scrutiny for his ties to Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell this month. — Palko Karasz, BostonGlobe.com, "Epstein Accuser Urges Prince Andrew to ‘Come Clean’ on Sex Allegations," 28 Aug. 2019 Before being convicted of crimes in Mohave County, some individuals are being forced to either fork over hundreds of dollars a month for their own GPS monitoring or wait for their day in court from a jail cell. — Lauren Castle, azcentral, "Some Arizona defendants are being charged hundreds a month for their own GPS monitoring," 21 Aug. 2019 In 2008, Ronnie White, a teenager accused of killing a police officer, died of an apparent suicide in a suburban Washington jail cell. — oregonlive.com, "Autopsy finds broken bones in Epstein’s neck, deepening questions around his death," 14 Aug. 2019 Princess in prison The ship sailed immediately to St. Petersburg, where Princess Tarakanova was imprisoned in a gloomy cell of the Peter and Paul Fortress. — National Geographic, "This 'pretender princess' tried to steal Catherine the Great's throne," 6 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cell.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for cell
cell
noun
English Language Learners Definition of cell
: a room in a prison, jail, etc., where prisoners live or are kept
: a small room that one person (such as a monk or a nun) lives in
: any one of the very small parts that together form all living things
See the full definition for cell in the English Language Learners Dictionary
cell
noun
\ ˈsel
\
\
Kids Definition of cell
1
: a very small room (as in a prison or a monastery)
2
: the basic structural unit of living things that is made up of cytoplasm enclosed by a membrane and that typically includes a nucleus and other smaller parts (as mitochondria or chloroplasts) which perform specific functions necessary for life
3
: a small enclosed part or division (as in a honeycomb)
4
: a container with substances which can produce an electric current by chemical action
5
: a device that converts light (as sunlight) that falls on it into electrical energy that is used as a power source
6
: cell phone
cell
noun