cell suicide

noun

variants or less commonly cellular suicide

: apoptosis

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Blebs signal cell suicide; when stressed cells start chopping up their own proteins, their membranes distend. —Laura Mallonee, Wired, 19 May 2020

Cells use a variety of ways to eliminate their rivals, from kicking them out of a tissue to inducing cell suicide or even engulfing them and cannibalizing their components. —Kendall Powell, Scientific American, 22 Jan. 2020

Perhaps the mechanism that drives cell suicide will evolve a more sophisticated function. —Quanta Magazine, 3 Nov. 2015

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

cell suicide

noun

variants also cellular suicide

: apoptosis