From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcellcell /sel/ ●●● S3 W2 noun [countable] 1 HBbody the smallest part of a living thing that can exist independentlyblood/brain/nerve cell red blood cells cancer cells Embryos grow by cell division (=the splitting of cells).2 
prisonPRISON a small room in a prison or police station where prisoners are kept He spent a night in the cells at the local police station. the walls of his prison cell► see thesaurus at prison3 phone American English a cellular phone; a telephone that you can carry around with you, that works by using a network of radio stations to pass on signals SYN mobile British English Call me on my cell if you’re running late.4 electricTEE a piece of equipment for producing electricity from chemicals, heat, or light a car powered by electric fuel cells5 secret groupGROUP OF PEOPLE a small group of people who are working secretly as part of a larger political organization a terrorist cell 6 religious a small room in a monastery or convent where someone sleeps7 insect/small animalHBI a small space that an insect or other small creature has made to live in or use the cells of a honeycombCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + cell a blood/nerve/brain/muscle etc cellNo new brain cells are produced after birth.a human/animal/plant cellthe structure of plant cellsa red cell (=the most common type of blood cell)The red cells carry the oxygen.a white cell (=a type of blood cell that defends your body against disease)In leukaemia there is an abnormal and excessive formation of white cells.a living/dead cellEvery living cell has a nucleus.normal/abnormalThe test enables doctors to detect abnormal cells.a stem cell (=one that divides and repairs the body, and may be used in medical treatment)Stem cells may make life-saving treatment possible.a cancer cellAlready there are many treatments which destroy cancer cells.verbsa cell dividesWhite blood cells divide rapidly.cell + NOUNcell divisionThe embryo grows by cell division.a cell count (=the number of cells in a particular amount of blood)A healthy person' s red cell count is close to 1,000.
prisonPRISON a small room in a prison or police station where prisoners are kept He spent a night in the cells at the local police station. the walls of his prison cell► see thesaurus at prison3 phone American English a cellular phone; a telephone that you can carry around with you, that works by using a network of radio stations to pass on signals SYN mobile British English Call me on my cell if you’re running late.4 electricTEE a piece of equipment for producing electricity from chemicals, heat, or light a car powered by electric fuel cells5 secret groupGROUP OF PEOPLE a small group of people who are working secretly as part of a larger political organization a terrorist cell 6 religious a small room in a monastery or convent where someone sleeps7 insect/small animalHBI a small space that an insect or other small creature has made to live in or use the cells of a honeycombCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + cell a blood/nerve/brain/muscle etc cellNo new brain cells are produced after birth.a human/animal/plant cellthe structure of plant cellsa red cell (=the most common type of blood cell)The red cells carry the oxygen.a white cell (=a type of blood cell that defends your body against disease)In leukaemia there is an abnormal and excessive formation of white cells.a living/dead cellEvery living cell has a nucleus.normal/abnormalThe test enables doctors to detect abnormal cells.a stem cell (=one that divides and repairs the body, and may be used in medical treatment)Stem cells may make life-saving treatment possible.a cancer cellAlready there are many treatments which destroy cancer cells.verbsa cell dividesWhite blood cells divide rapidly.cell + NOUNcell divisionThe embryo grows by cell division.a cell count (=the number of cells in a particular amount of blood)A healthy person' s red cell count is close to 1,000. Examples from the Corpus
cell• These antibodies are produced by the B cells in our lymph glands.• alkaline battery cells• red blood cells• cancer cells• Warren planned to find a communist cell and become a member.• He was tortured severely, stripped and manacled to a concrete cell floor.• Methods for dissociating cells are therefore more drastic and not necessarily compatible with long-term viability.• Thyroglobulin secreted by the epithelial cells, makes up 90 percent of the colloid.• Results Deposits of formazan were found in the colonic epithelium, vascular endothelium, and infiltrating mononuclear cells.• Conditions were poor, and there were several prisoners to one cell.• When a surgeon destroys overactive cells in the globus pallidum, he restores balance to the system, said Grossman.• The prison cells have doors of heavy steel.• Barrett's oesophagus represents a metaplastic transformation of the normal squamous cell epithelium of the lower tubular oesophagus into columnar epithelium.• You find that cells in adjacent parts of the visual cortex are activated by stimulation in adjacent parts of the visual field.blood/brain/nerve cell• Like cocaine and amphetamine, alcohol directly stimulates certain brain cells.• Research has suggested that for blood cells, this lipid asymmetry may help to maintain the delicate balance between haemostasis and thrombosis.• Now he could no more excise it from his brain cells than he could sever his past from his future.• As the cells proceed from the stem cell to the various mature blood cell types they divide many times.• Healthy proteins, which have not met up with prions, reside quietly in the membranes of nerve cells in the brain.• The red blood cell is finally a small bag containing haemoglobin molecules for transporting oxygen.• They can manufacture a whole host of body parts, from neurons to muscles to blood cells.• Specifically, the protein is crucial for normal chemical functioning at synapses, the junctions where brain cells meet and exchange signals.prison cell• It had only one room, and one window, which was heavily barred, like a prison cell.• It wasn't like a prison cell, it-was like a maid's room, Eve told herself firmly.• The cell where he was held was, like a prison cell in a spaghetti western, built of mud.• Nadia's winning work in her age-group showed a prison cell with doors thrown open, depicting freedom.• Kaczynski was scheduled to begin seven days of mental tests Saturday in his Dublin prison cell.• More than a dozen activists have locked themselves inside a mock prison cell they put up outside the federal Interior Ministry here.• They are part of a nationwide operation which has cost millions of pounds after the disturbances which destroyed hundreds of prison cells.• They might have sat in the same prison cell as he was sitting in now.From Longman Business Dictionarycellcell /sel/ noun [countable usually singular] TELECOMMUNICATIONSa cell phoneOrigin cell (1100-1200) Old French celle, from Latin cella “small room” 