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

The pool included people who wouldn’t usually be screened for an iron deficiency, like those without heart failure, chronic kidney disease, or anemia—when the body doesn’t have enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to tissues. —Lauryn Higgins, Health, 4 Oct. 2024

Sickle cell disease causes red blood cells to become misshapen half-moons that get stuck inside blood vessels, which can restrict blood flow and cause what are known as pain crises. —Annika Kim Constantino,ashley Capoot, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2024

Iron deficiency has been tied to restless leg syndrome, fatigue, hair loss, heart failure and other adverse outcomes, including anemia, in which the blood doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells and hemoglobin to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues. —Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 27 Sep. 2024

Although doctors frequently screen for anemia — where a person has too few red blood cells due to low levels of iron — in routine blood tests, people can have enough red blood cells but still have an iron deficiency that leads to symptoms. —Linda Carroll, NBC News, 24 Sep. 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