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.

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

When a cancer cell line named colon26 was treated with rbNPs, cell division was arrested and programmed cell death was induced, indicating strong anticancer effects of the nanoparticles.

From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2024

Researchers found BA.2.86 was more efficient at infecting a cell line derived from the human lower airway epithelium in the lung.

From Science Daily • Jan. 8, 2024

The fact that no one had sued over the growth or ownership of the HeLa cell line, he said, illustrated that patients didn’t mind when doctors took their cells and turned them into commercial products.

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

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