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
Fatigue can happen because of the cancer itself, side effects of treatment, anemia (low red blood cell count), or emotional strain.
—
Julie Scott, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2025
This includes serving as a sewage station for your body—filtering and detoxing your blood, breaking down old red blood cells and recycling their iron—and a manufacturing plant of sorts—making key proteins and immune system cells, storing vitamins and minerals and processing your nutrients.
—Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
But this increase didn’t translate into any measurable increase in red blood cells or improvement in performance.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside, 15 Sep. 2025
In multiple myeloma, abnormal plasma cells build up in the bone marrow and crowd out healthy blood-forming cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
—Lindsay Curtis, Health, 14 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for red blood cell
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Julie Scott, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2025
This includes serving as a sewage station for your body—filtering and detoxing your blood, breaking down old red blood cells and recycling their iron—and a manufacturing plant of sorts—making key proteins and immune system cells, storing vitamins and minerals and processing your nutrients.
—Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
But this increase didn’t translate into any measurable increase in red blood cells or improvement in performance.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside, 15 Sep. 2025
In multiple myeloma, abnormal plasma cells build up in the bone marrow and crowd out healthy blood-forming cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
—Lindsay Curtis, Health, 14 Sep. 2025
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 23 Sep. 2025.
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