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

When oxygen can’t attach, red blood cells don’t transport it around the body, effectively suffocating the organs. —Sara Novak, Scientific American, 11 Sep. 2025

Those cells, present in blood and bone marrow, are capable of forming mature red blood cells (which carry oxygen), platelets (which help stop bleeding) and white blood cells (which help fight infections). —Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Sep. 2025

This makes red blood cells small and pale, causing fatigue, weakness, and shortness of breath. —Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Sep. 2025

The ideal particle size is roughly that of a red blood cell. —ArsTechnica, 31 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for red blood cell

• bagatelle
• caravel
• carousel
• carrousel
• citadel
• clientele
• commonweal
• decibel
• demoiselle
• fontanelle
• infidel
• isabel

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