platelet

American  

[pleyt-lit] / ˈpleɪt lɪt /

noun

Cell Biology.

1. a small platelike body, especially a blood platelet.

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platelet British  

/ ˈpleɪtlɪt /

noun

1. Formerly called: thrombocyte.  a minute cell occurring in the blood of vertebrates and involved in clotting of the blood

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platelet Scientific  

/ plāt′lĭt /

1. Any of the numerous small, round cell fragments found in the blood of mammals that function in the clotting of blood. Platelets contain no nuclei and are formed in the bone marrow from precursor cells called megakaryocytes. Platelets contribute to the coagulation process by adhering to damaged blood vessels, fibrinogen, and other platelets. An inadequate number of platelets leads to uncontrolled bleeding.

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Etymology

Origin of platelet

First recorded in 1890–95; plate ¹ + -let

Explanation

Platelets are tiny cell fragments that help your blood to clot. If you cut yourself, platelets clump together to slow the flow of blood and plug the cut. Blood clots are your body's way of repairing and healing cuts and scrapes in your skin, and platelets are an essential part of the clotting process. They're colorless disks, pieces of cells with no nuclei, and they're formed in your bone marrow along with white and red blood cells. Doctors and scientists measure blood in microliters, tiny drops, and a healthy person has as many as 450,000 platelets in one microliter of blood.

Example Sentences

Platelet dysregulation, which is known to increase with age, occurs when these cells are either hyperreactive and form clots too often, or are underperforming.

From Science Daily • May 14, 2024

Platelet rich plasma therapy, in which growth factors from the patient’s own blood are injected into the scalp, can stimulate hair growth, too.

From New York Times • Apr. 2, 2018

In that report, he found that Ohtani has a damaged ulnar collateral ligament and underwent a Platelet Rich Plasma injection in October to alleviate some of the pain.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 13, 2017

Platelet lysates are made from the platelets that can be extracted from human blood samples.

From Slate • Jul. 11, 2017

Platelet: a little plate or sclerite of chitin in a membrane.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.