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 cellExamples of red blood cell in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
An essential trace mineral that supports healthy blood vessels and red blood cell formation.
—
Lauren Panoff, Verywell Health, 17 Apr. 2026
The average lifespan of a red blood cell is just under four months, while skin cells last about a month and those in the intestinal lining exist for just a few days.
—K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 17 Apr. 2026
Other possible complications involve hyponatremia, in which sodium levels in the blood drop too low, metabolic alkalosis, in which acid levels become unbalanced, and hemolytic uremic syndrome, in which red blood cells and platelets are destroyed.
—Don Sweeney
april 14, Sacbee.com, 14 Apr. 2026
By the start of 2025, she’d been confined to a hospital in Dresden, Germany, for more than two months, being dosed with multiple immunosuppressive drugs and receiving up to three daily transfusions of red blood cells, as her care team tried and failed to control a massive disease flare.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for red blood cell
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Lauren Panoff, Verywell Health, 17 Apr. 2026
The average lifespan of a red blood cell is just under four months, while skin cells last about a month and those in the intestinal lining exist for just a few days.
—K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 17 Apr. 2026
Other possible complications involve hyponatremia, in which sodium levels in the blood drop too low, metabolic alkalosis, in which acid levels become unbalanced, and hemolytic uremic syndrome, in which red blood cells and platelets are destroyed.
—Don Sweeney
april 14, Sacbee.com, 14 Apr. 2026
By the start of 2025, she’d been confined to a hospital in Dresden, Germany, for more than two months, being dosed with multiple immunosuppressive drugs and receiving up to three daily transfusions of red blood cells, as her care team tried and failed to control a massive disease flare.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for red blood cell
Cite this Entry
“Red blood cell.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/red%20blood%20cell. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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