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

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

And hundreds of centrioles, intended for eventual construction of cilia at the cell surface, got stuck in the cell body.

From Science Daily • Jun. 6, 2024

When lung cells fused, only the main parts of the cell body connected to each other.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 6, 2023

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

In addition, when associations between parts of a thing remembered are formed, the nerve cell body sends out axon runners to other associated memory cells.

From Sequential Problem Solving A Student Handbook with Checklists for Successful Critical Thinking by Lozo, Fredric