cell
n. countablen. the smallest basic part of a living thing. Your body is made up of trillions of these tiny building blocks. It can also mean a small room in a prison.
n. the smallest structural and functional unit of an organism, typically microscopic and enclosed in a membrane. It also refers to a small, restrictive room in a prison or monastery, or a single data compartment within a spreadsheet.
The human body contains trillions of living cells.
The prisoner spent twenty-three hours a day locked inside a tiny concrete cell.
Under the microscope, the plant cells appeared as a rigid grid of green walls, each containing a distinct nucleus and cytoplasm.
From Middle English celle, selle, from Old English cell (attested in inflected forms), from Latin cella (“chamber, small room, compartment”), later reinforced by Old French cel, sele, Old French cele. Ultimately from Proto-Italic kelnā, from Proto-Indo-European ḱelneh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cella and hall.
Ellipsis of cell phone, itself a clipping of cellular phone, from cellular + phone.
Frequently acts as an attributive modifier in compound nouns, such as 'cell wall' or 'cell phone'.