stem cell

noun

: an unspecialized cell that gives rise to differentiated cells

hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow

Examples of stem cell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, Dubai’s Royal Atlantic hotel features an in-house clinic, Aeon, offering advanced treatments ranging from exosome and stem cell therapy to ozone therapy. —Amy Francombe, Vogue, 19 Dec. 2025

Currently the platform can do this for 10 different cell types—including stem cells, T-cells, cardiac cells, and blood cells—and the company is planning on training its models to work with more in the future. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 18 Dec. 2025

The company, which has moved fast since its founding in 2021, says Haven-1 is well kitted out to host experiments in a diverse range of areas, including on-orbit pharmaceutical development, stem cell research, plant growth and human research and tech demos. —Andrew Jones, Space.com, 17 Dec. 2025

Diabetes reduces levels of stem cells that help to fix this damage. —Jyoti Madhusoodanan, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stem cell

• barbell
• bedwell
• befell
• bluebell
• bombshell
• bridewell
• capelle
• cartel
• carvel
• clamshell
• cogswell
• compel

Kids Definition

stem cell

noun

: a simple cell that can become a cell (as a blood cell or skin cell) with a special function

Medical Definition

stem cell

noun

ˈstem- 

: an unspecialized cell capable of perpetuating itself through cell division and having the potential to give rise to differentiated cells with specialized functions

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst stage of the embryo.

—Carrie J. Merkle, in Essentials of Pathophysiology

… picture the bone marrow as a blood cell factory that takes a single type of precursor cell, or stem cell, and modifies it in various ways to produce all the cells that circulate in the blood.

—Gina Kolata, Discover

Recent observations are providing increasing evidence for the concept that adult stem cells are part of a natural system for tissue repair.

—Darwin J. Prockop, in Essentials of Stem Cell Biology