leukemia
noun
leu·ke·mia
lü-ˈkē-mē-ə 
: an acute or chronic disease in humans and other warm-blooded animals characterized by an abnormal increase in the number of white blood cells in the tissues and often in the blood
Examples of leukemia in a Sentence
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The boy, diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 3, had most recently been undergoing two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy.
—
Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 4 July 2025
The Mayo Clinic defines leukemia as a cancer that affects a person’s blood-forming tissues, such as their bone marrow and lymphatic system.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 2 July 2025
At 36 weeks pregnant, my wife and I learned that our unborn daughter has leukemia.
—Literary Hub, 30 June 2025
But in 2019, she was diagnosed with a form of leukemia that had a less-than-ten percent survival rate.
—Julia Ries, Outside Online, 26 June 2025
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Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 4 July 2025
The Mayo Clinic defines leukemia as a cancer that affects a person’s blood-forming tissues, such as their bone marrow and lymphatic system.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 2 July 2025
At 36 weeks pregnant, my wife and I learned that our unborn daughter has leukemia.
—Literary Hub, 30 June 2025
But in 2019, she was diagnosed with a form of leukemia that had a less-than-ten percent survival rate.
—Julia Ries, Outside Online, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for leukemia
Cite this Entry
“Leukemia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leukemia. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
leukemia
noun
leu·ke·mia
lü-ˈkē-mē-ə
: a disease of warm-blooded animals including human beings that is a kind of cancer in which there is an abnormal increase in the number of white blood cells in the tissues and often in the blood
Medical Definition
leukemia
noun
leu·ke·mia
lü-ˈkē-mē-ə
variants
also leucemia
or chiefly British leukaemia
also leucaemia
lü-ˈkē- also lü-ˈsē-
: an acute or chronic disease of unknown cause in humans and other warm-blooded animals that involves the blood-forming organs, is characterized by an abnormal increase in the number of white blood cells in the tissues of the body with or without a corresponding increase of those in the circulating blood, and is classified according to the type of white blood cell most prominently involved see acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, feline leukemia, lymphoblastic leukemia, lymphocytic leukemia, monocytic leukemia, myelogenous leukemia, promyelocytic leukemia
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