cell line

American

noun

Cell Biology.

a perpetuating strain of cells in laboratory culture.

cell line British

noun

biology a clone of animal or plant cells that can be grown in a suitable nutrient culture medium in the laboratory

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cell line

First recorded in 1950–55

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:

cell line

Importantly, the fat cell differentiation experiments used a mouse-derived cell line, while the detailed analysis of nutrient consumption was conducted in human cells.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026

The work was made possible by the first laboratory-grown lung cell line developed from the greater horseshoe bat.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

The cell line, called "HeLa" after the patient's first and last name, was sent to research labs around the world.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026

One dataset came from a human leukemia cell line that is commonly used to study red blood cell traits.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 16, 2025

I have checked a number of the early papers describing the development of the HeLa cell line but have not been able to find any information pertaining to the race of the donor.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023