Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of 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\ (s[e^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Celled} (s[e^]ld).] To place or inclose in a cell. ``Celled under ground.'' [R.] --Warner.