cell definition | Dictionary.com

cell

1 [sel]

–noun

1.	a small room, as in a convent or prison.

2.	any of various small compartments or bounded areas forming part of a whole.

3.	a small group acting as a unit within a larger organization: a local cell of the Communist party.

4.	Biology. a usually microscopic structure containing nuclear and cytoplasmic material enclosed by a semipermeable membrane and, in plants, a cell wall; the basic structural unit of all organisms.

5.	Entomology. one of the areas into which the wing of an insect is divided by the veins.

6.	Botany. locule.

Electricity.

a.	Also called battery, electric cell, electrochemical cell, galvanic cell, voltaic cell. a device that generates electrical energy from chemical energy, usually consisting of two different conducting substances placed in an electrolyte. Compare dry cell.

b.	solar cell.

8.	Also called electrolytic cell. Physical Chemistry. a device for producing electrolysis, consisting essentially of the electrolyte, its container, and the electrodes.

9.	Aeronautics. the gas container of a balloon.

10.	Ecclesiastical. a monastery or nunnery, usually small, dependent on a larger religious house.

11.	Telecommunications. See under cellular phone.

–verb (used without object)

12.	to live in a cell: The two prisoners had celled together for three years.

Origin:
bef. 1150; 1665–75 for def. 4; ME celle < OF celle < ML cella monastic cell, L: room (see cella ); OE cell < ML, as above; see cella

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Language Translation for : cell

Spanish:

celda,

German:

die Zelle,

Japanese:

独房

View 30 other languages »

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cell

2 [sel]

–noun

cel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

cellular phone

–noun

1.	a mobile telephone system using low-powered radio transmitters, with each transmitter covering a distinct geographical area (cell), and computer equipment to switch a call from one area to another, thus enabling large-scale car or portable phone service.

2.	mobile phone.

Also called cellʹ phoneʹ, cellular telephone.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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cell (sěl) Pronunciation Key

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n.

A narrow confining room, as in a prison or convent.
A small enclosed cavity or space, such as a compartment in a honeycomb or within a plant ovary or an area bordered by veins in an insect's wing.
Biology The smallest structural unit of an organism that is capable of independent functioning, consisting of one or more nuclei, cytoplasm, and various organelles, all surrounded by a semipermeable cell membrane.
Architecture See web.
The smallest organizational unit of a centralized group or movement, especially of a political party of Leninist structure.
Electricity
1. A single unit for electrolysis or conversion of chemical into electric energy, usually consisting of a container with electrodes and an electrolyte; a battery. Also called electrochemical cell.
2. A single unit that converts radiant energy into electric energy: a solar cell.
A fuel cell.
Computer Science A basic unit of storage in a computer memory that can hold one unit of information, such as a character or word.
A geographic area or zone surrounding a transmitter in a cellular telephone system.
A storm cell.
A small humble abode, such as a hermit's cave or hut.
A small religious house dependent on a larger one, such as a priory within an abbey.
A box or other unit on a spreadsheet or similar array at the intersection of a column and a row.

v.   celled, cell·ing, cells

v.   tr.
To store in a honeycomb.
v.   intr.
To live in or share a prison cell.

[Middle English celle, from Old English cell and from Old French, both from Latin cella, chamber; see kel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

web (wěb) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. A woven fabric, especially one on a loom or just removed from it.
2. The structural part of cloth.
A latticed or woven structure: A web of palm branches formed the roof of the hut.
A structure of delicate, threadlike filaments characteristically spun by spiders or certain insect larvae.
Something intricately contrived, especially something that ensnares or entangles: caught in a web of lies.
A complex, interconnected structure or arrangement: a web of telephone wires.
often Web The World Wide Web.
A radio or television network.
A membrane or fold of skin connecting the toes, as of certain amphibians, birds, and mammals.
The barbs on each side of the shaft of a bird's feather; a vane.
Baseball A piece of leather or leather mesh that fills the space between the thumb and forefinger of a baseball glove. Also called trap¹, webbing.
Architecture A space or compartment between the ribs or groins of a vault. Also called cell.
A metal sheet or plate connecting the heavier sections, ribs, or flanges of a structural element.
A thin metal plate or strip, as the bit of a key or the blade of a saw.
A large continuous roll of paper, such as newsprint, either in the process of manufacture or as it is fed into a web press.

tr.v. webbed, web·bing, webs

To provide with a web.
To cover or envelop with a web.
To ensnare in a web.

[Middle English, from Old English; see webh- in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: The word Web is usually capitalized when referring to the World Wide Web: Many sites on the Web have information about used cars. In this use, however, the word is increasingly found lowercase, and this usage may become dominant. See Usage Note at website.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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cell

c.1131, "small room," from L. cella "small room, hut," related to L. celare "to hide, conceal," from PIE base *kel- "conceal" (cf. Skt. cala "hut, house, hall;" Gk. kalia "hut, nest," kalyptein "to cover," koleon "sheath," kelyphos "shell, husk;" L. cella "store room," clam "secret;" O.Ir. cuile "cellar," celim "hide," M.Ir. cul "defense, shelter;" Goth. hulistr "covering," O.E. heolstor "lurking-hole, cave, covering," Goth. huljan "cover over," hulundi "hole," hilms "helmet," halja "hell," O.E. hol "cave," holu "husk, pod"). Earliest sense is for monastic rooms, then prison rooms (1722). Used in biology 17c., but not in modern sense until 1845. Meaning "small group of people working within a larger organization" is from 1925. Cellphone is from 1984.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

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cell
noun
1.	any small compartment; "the cells of a honeycomb"
2.	(biology) the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; they 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
4.	a small unit serving as part of or as the nucleus of a larger political movement
5.	a hand-held mobile radiotelephone for use in an area divided into small sections, each with its own short-range transmitter/receiver [syn: cellular telephone]
6.	small room in which a monk or nun lives
7.	a room where a prisoner is kept

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

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cell (sěl) Pronunciation Key

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The basic unit of living matter in all organisms, consisting of protoplasm enclosed within a cell membrane. All cells except bacterial cells have a distinct nucleus that contains the cell's DNA as well as other structures (called organelles) that include mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum, and vacuoles. The main source of energy for all of a cell's biological processes is ATP. See more at eukaryote , prokaryote.
Any of various devices, or units within such devices, that are capable of converting some form of energy into electricity. Cells contain two electrodes and an electrolyte. See more at electrolytic cell , solar cell , voltaic cell.

cellular adjective

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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cell

A region of the atmosphere in which air tends to circulate without flowing outward.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

cell

The basic unit of all living things except viruses. In advanced organisms, cells consist of a nucleus (which contains genetic material), cytoplasm, and organelles, all of which are surrounded by a cell membrane.

Note: Groups of cells with similar structure and function form tissues.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Cite This Source

cell (sěl)
n.

The smallest structural unit of an organism that is capable of independent functioning, consisting of one or more nuclei, cytoplasm, and various organelles, all surrounded by a semipermeable cell membrane.
A small enclosed cavity or space.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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Main Entry: cell
Pronunciation: 'sel
Function: noun
1 : a small compartment or bounded space
2 : a small usually microscopic massof protoplasm bounded externally by a semipermeable membrane, usually including one or more nuclei and various nonliving products, capable alone or interacting with other cells of performing all thefundamental functions of life, and forming the smallest structural unit of living matter capable of functioning independently

cell
1. In a spreadsheet, the intersection of a row a column and a sheet, the smallest addressable unit of data. A cell contains either a constant value or a formula that is used to calculate a value. The cell has a format that determines how to display the value. A cell can be part of a range. A cell is usually referred to by its column (labelled by one or more letters from the sequence A, B, ..., Z, AA, AB, ..., AZ, BA, BB, ..., BZ, ... ) and its row number counting up from one, e.g. cell B3 is in the second column across and the third row down. A cell also belongs to a particular sheet, e.g. "Sheet 1".
2. ATM's term for a packet.
(2007-10-22)

Cell

Cell\, n. [OF. celle, fr. L. cella; akin to celare to hide, and E. hell, helm, conceal. Cf. Hall.]

1. A very small and close apartment, as in a prison or in a monastery or convent; the hut of a hermit.

The heroic confessor in his cell. --Macaulay.

2. A small religious house attached to a monastery or convent. "Cells or dependent priories." --Milman.

3. Any small cavity, or hollow place.

4. (Arch.) (a) The space between the ribs of a vaulted roof. (b) Same as Cella.

5. (Elec.) A jar of vessel, or a division of a compound vessel, for holding the exciting fluid of a battery.

6. (Biol.) One of the minute elementary structures, of which the greater part of the various tissues and organs of animals and plants are composed.

Note: All cells have their origin in the primary cell from which the organism was developed. In the lowest animal and vegetable forms, one single cell constitutes the complete individual, such being called unicelluter orgamisms. A typical cell is composed of a semifluid mass of protoplasm, more or less granular, generally containing in its center a nucleus which in turn frequently contains one or more nucleoli, the whole being surrounded by a thin membrane, the cell wall. In some cells, as in those of blood, in the am[oe]ba, and in embryonic cells (both vegetable and animal), there is no restricting cell wall, while in some of the unicelluliar organisms the nucleus is wholly wanting. See Illust. of Bipolar.

Air cell. See Air cell.

Cell development (called also cell genesis, cell formation, and cytogenesis), the multiplication, of cells by a process of reproduction under the following common forms; segmentation or fission, gemmation or budding, karyokinesis, and endogenous multiplication. See Segmentation, Gemmation, etc.

Cell theory. (Biol.) See Cellular theory, under Cellular.

Cell

Cell\ (s[e^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Celled (s[e^]ld).] To place or inclose in a cell. "Celled under ground." [R.] --Warner.

cell