Definition of: cell

(sel) noun
1. A small, close room, especially one for a prisoner.
2. Entomol. a A small space or cavity bounded by the veins or nerves on the surface of an insect's wing. b A single compartment of a honeycomb.
3. Biol. a One of the cases or cuplike cavities containing an individual zoospore. b A small, often microscopic mass of protoplasm, variously differentiated in composition, structure, and function, usually containing a central nucleus and enclosed within a semipermeable wall (plant) or membrane (animal). It is the fundamental unit of all organisms and the physicochemical basis both of individual development and of organic evolution from the simplest protozoa to the most complex forms of plant and animal life.
4. Bot. a The cavity of an anther, containing pollen. b The seed-bearing cavity of an ovary or pericarp.
5. Electr. The unit of a battery, consisting of electrodes in contact with an electrolyte and in which an electric potential is developed by means of chemical action: a voltaic cell.
6. Crystall. The fundamental structural element of a crystalline lattice: also called unit cell.
7. Aeron. a The full assembly of parts on either side of the fuselage of a biplane. b The gas compartment of a balloon or dirigible.
8. A body of persons forming a single unit in an organization of similar groups.
9. A small monastery or nunnery dependent on a larger one.
10. The room occupied by a monk or a nun. ◆ Homophone: sell. [<OF celle <L cella]
TYPICAL CELL
a. Vacuole.
b. Centriole.
c. Centrosphere.
d. Metaplasm.
e. Golgi body.
f. Cell wall.
g. Plasma membrane.
h. Chondriosome.
i. Nucleolus.
j. Nuclear sap.
k. Chromatin.
l. Karyosome.