white blood cell

noun

: any of the blood cells that are colorless, lack hemoglobin, contain a nucleus, and include the lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils

called also leukocyte, white blood corpuscle, white cell

compare red blood cell

Examples of white blood cell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Gastric Lymphoma Gastric lymphoma is a rare type of stomach cancer that starts in the lymphocytes, a white blood cell in your immune system. —Carrie Madormo, Rn, Health, 24 Mar. 2025

The requirement was originally put in place to prevent a rare side effect known as severe neutropenia: a dangerously low white blood cell count that makes people prone to life-threatening infections. —Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 3 Mar. 2025

Francis does not have a fever and his white blood cell count remains stable, the Vatican added. —Astha Rajvanshi, NBC News, 1 Mar. 2025

The only outlier was a high number of white blood cells, so she was advised to follow up with her primary care doctor. —Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 14 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1852, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for white blood cell

• mademoiselle
• materiel
• subparallel
• antiparallel
• antipersonnel
• bagatelle
• caravel
• carousel
• carrousel
• citadel
• clientele
• commonweal

Kids Definition

white blood cell

noun

: a colorless blood cell (as a lymphocyte) that lacks hemoglobin and contains a nucleus

called also leukocyte, white blood corpuscle, white cell, white corpuscle

Medical Definition

white blood cell

noun

: any of the blood cells of the immune system that are colorless, lack hemoglobin, contain a nucleus, and include the lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils along with their precursors and derivatives (as macrophages) : leukocyte

—abbreviation WBC

called also white blood corpuscle, white cell, white corpuscle

compare red blood cell