cell body

American  

noun

Biology.

1. the compact area of a nerve cell that constitutes the nucleus and surrounding cytoplasm, excluding the axons and dendrites.

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cell body Scientific  

1. The portion of a neuron that contains the nucleus but does not incorporate the dendrites or axon.

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Etymology

Origin of cell body

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cell body

They move and feed by extending parts of their cell body, a process that gives them their distinctive shape.

From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026

Flip open any neuroscience textbook and the depiction of a neuron will be roughly the same: a blobby, amoebalike cell body shooting out a long, thick strand.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 2, 2024

An axon is a long cable-like extension from a neuron cell body that transfers the neuron's signal to another neuron.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 15, 2024

Indeed, every 3-cm increase in axon length is calculated to add more than double the volume of the neuronal cell body to the axon each day.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 29, 2022

They reach a much greater distance from the cell body than the dendrites.

From The Mind and Its Education by Betts, George Herbert