cell 1
— cell-like , adj.
/sel/ , n.
1. a small room, as in a convent or prison.
2. any of various small compartments or bounded areas forming part of a whole.
3. a small group acting as a unit within a larger organization: a local cell of the Communist party.
4. Biol. a usually microscopic structure containing nuclear and cytoplasmic material enclosed by a semipermeable membrane and, in plants, a cell wall; the basic structural unit of all organisms.
5. Entomol. one of the areas into which the wing of an insect is divided by the veins.
6. Bot. locule.
7. Elect.
a. Also called battery, electric cell, galvanic cell, voltaic cell . a device that generates electrical energy from chemical energy, usually consisting of two different conducting substances placed in an electrolyte. Cf. dry cell .
b. See solar cell .
8. Also called electrolytic cell . Physical Chem. a device for producing electrolysis, consisting essentially of the electrolyte, its container, and the electrodes.
9. Aeron. the gas container of a balloon.
10. Eccles. a monastery or nunnery, usually small, dependent on a larger religious house.
11. Telecommunications. See under cellular phone .
v.i.
12. to live in a cell: The two prisoners had celled together for three years.
[ bef. 1150; 1665-75 for def. 4; ME celle celle cella monastic cell, L: room (see CELLA); OE cell ]
cell 2
/sel/ n.
cel.