red blood cell

noun

variants or less commonly red blood corpuscle or red cell or red corpuscle

: any of the hemoglobin-containing cells that carry oxygen to the tissues and in mammals are typically biconcave disks which lack a nucleus and cellular organelles and are formed from nucleated cells of the red bone marrow

Note: The number of red blood cells ranges from four to six million in each cubic millimeter of normal human blood. The red color of blood is due to the presence of hemoglobin within the red blood cells.

called also erythrocyte

compare white blood cell

Examples of red blood cell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Lead is a neurotoxin that can damage the brain and kidneys and can affect the way the body makes red blood cells. —Dana Afana, Detroit Free Press, 10 May 2024

Internal stomach bleeding can show up as bloody poop or vomit or present no symptoms at all but slowly and silently cause anemia, a condition where there aren’t enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen to your tissues. —Julia Ries, SELF, 7 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

red blood cell

noun

: a reddish cell of the blood that contains hemoglobin and carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues

called also erythrocyte, red blood corpuscle, red cell, red corpuscle

Medical Definition

red blood cell

noun

: any of the hemoglobin-containing cells that carry oxygen to the tissues and are responsible for the red color of vertebrate blood

called also erythrocyte, red blood corpuscle, red cell, red corpuscle

compare white blood cell