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

leukemic

lü-ˈkē-mik 

adjective or noun

Examples of leukemia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Sular is half-way through treatment at Hackensack University Medical Center, which is donating tickets to cancer patients, including 12-year-old Danny Chuta, who has leukemia. —Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 9 June 2026

Vandenberg, a mom of two, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2009. —Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 9 June 2026

Hogan also had leukemia CLL, a type of cancer that affects white blood cells and bone marrow. —Liza Esquibias, USA Today, 8 June 2026

Several lines of research presented at ASCO offer evidence of the drugs’ protective effect against cancer, including several not typically associated with weight, such as leukemia and lung cancer, says Elizabeth McDonald, radiologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. —Lori Youmshajekian, Scientific American, 8 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

New Latin

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing leukemia

• hairy cell leukemia
• lymphocytic leukemia
• myelogenous leukemia

Rhymes for leukemia

• premia
• pyaemia
• academia
• azotemia
• bacteremia
• hyperaemia
• hyperemia
• hypoxemia
• septicaemia
• septicemia
• thalassaemia
• thalassemia

Kids 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

leukemic

-mik 

adjective

Medical Definition

leukemia

noun

leu·​ke·​mia lü-ˈkē-mē-ə 

variants also leucemia

lü-ˈkē- also lü-ˈsē-

or chiefly British leukaemia also leucaemia

: 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