/ sel; NAmE / noun
1.
a room for one or more prisoners in a prison or police station
—see also padded cell
2.
a small room without much furniture in which a monk or nun lives
3.
the smallest unit of living matter that can exist on its own. All plants and animals are made up of cells :
blood cells
the nucleus of a cell
—see also stem cell
4.
each of the small sections that together form a larger structure, for example a honeycomb
5.
a device for producing an electric current, for example by the action of chemicals or light :
a photoelectric cell
6.
a small group of people who work as part of a larger political organization, especially secretly :
a terrorist cell
7.
one of the small squares in a spreadsheet computer program in which you enter a single piece of data
8.
( informal , especially NAmE ) = cellphone
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WORD ORIGIN
Old English , from Old French celle or Latin cella storeroom or chamber.