antibody
Americannoun
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antibodies
plural
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any of numerous Y -shaped protein molecules produced by B cells as a primary immune defense, each molecule and its clones having a unique binding site that can combine with the complementary site of a foreign antigen, as on a virus or bacterium, thereby disabling the antigen and signaling other immune defenses. Ab
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antibodies of a particular type collectively.
noun
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Any of numerous proteins produced by B lymphocytes in response to the presence of specific foreign antigens, including microorganisms and toxins. Antibodies consist of two pairs of polypeptide chains, called heavy chains and light chains, that are arranged in a Y-shape. The two tips of the Y are the regions that bind to antigens and deactivate them.
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Also called immunoglobulin
Closer Look
Like other vertebrates, humans possess an effective immune system that uses antibodies to fight bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Antibodies are complex, Y-shaped protein molecules. The immune system's B lymphocytes, which are produced by the bone marrow, develop into plasma cells that can generate a huge variety of antibodies, each one capable of combining with and destroying an antigen, a foreign molecule. Antibodies react to very specific characteristics of different antigens, binding them to the top ends of their Y formation. Once the antibody and antigen combine, the antibodies deactivate the antigen or lead it to macrophages(a kind of white blood cell) that ingest and destroy it. High numbers of a particular antibody may persist for months after an invasion, eventually diminishing. However, the B cells can quickly manufacture more of the same antibody if exposure to the antigen recurs. Vaccines work by “training” B cells to recognize and react quickly to potential disease molecules.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of antibody
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Explanation
An antibody is a protein made by the body that latches onto foreign bacteria and viruses to make them ineffective. Each antibody is designed to target a particular opponent. A powerful part of the body’s immune system, an antibody is produced when the body senses an invader — called an antigen that it doesn’t think should be there. The body then sends out the antibody to neutralize it. Don’t think of an antibody as being anti or “against” your body; think of the body in the word antibody as the antigen, or foreign body that is being fought. Known antibodies have been especially useful in the creation of vaccines.
Vocabulary lists containing antibody
This Week In Words: May 3–9, 2020
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: ant-, anti-
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The ACT Science Test: Biology Review 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The researchers used one of the first approaches to examine a broad antibody "fingerprint" present before vaccination as a measure of immune readiness.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
The team also investigated whether the complete antibody fingerprint could provide more predictive information than a small number of individual biomarkers.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
The research also demonstrates the potential of newer technologies capable of measuring many antibody responses simultaneously.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
To investigate whether these antibody fingerprints could signal vaccine readiness, the team measured immune responses to 185 antigens.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
That’s the principle of vaccination: to stimulate our antibody production without our having to go through the actual experience of the disease, by inoculating us with a dead or weakened strain of microbe.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
After all, if the infection’s gone, what use are the antibodies?
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
Cytospire Therapeutics, a startup developing immune cell engager antibodies, appointed Sumeet Ambarkhane as chief medical officer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
They are typically produced by exposing large animals to snake venom and then collecting the antibodies those animals generate.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
It is not clear exactly why as there were no signs of antibodies attacking the pig kidney.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Through this encounter with the fever their blood automatically produced antibodies that either fought off the yellow fever virus entirely or reduced its impact on the individual significantly.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
