English > white blood cell: 1 sense > noun 1, bodyMeaning | blood cells that engulf and digest bacteria and fungi; an important part of the body's defense system. |
---|
Synonyms | leukocyte, leucocyte, white cell, white blood corpuscle, white corpuscle, WBC |
---|
Narrower | basophil, basophile | A leukocyte with basophilic granules easily stained by basic stains |
---|
eosinophil, eosinophile | A leukocyte readily stained with eosin |
granulocyte | A leukocyte that has granules in its cytoplasm |
lymphocyte, lymph cell | An agranulocytic leukocyte that normally makes up a quarter of the white blood cell count but increases in the presence of infection |
monocyte | A type of granular leukocyte that functions in the ingestion of bacteria |
myeloblast | A precursor of leukocytes that normally occurs only in bone marrow |
myelocyte | An immature leukocyte normally found in bone marrow |
neutrophil, neutrophile | The chief phagocytic leukocyte |
Broader | blood cell, blood corpuscle, corpuscle | Either of two types of cells (erythrocytes and leukocytes) and sometimes including platelets |
---|
free phagocyte | A phagocyte that circulates in the blood |
Spanish | glóbulo blanco, glóbulos blancos, leucocito |
---|
Catalan | globuls blancs, leucòcit |
---|