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daughter cell

American  
[daw-ter sel] / ˈdɔ tər ˌsɛl /

noun

plural

daughter cells

  1. Cell Biology. any new cell produced in the course of mitosis or meiosis by the division of an existing cell.

daughter cell Scientific  
/ dô′tər /

  1. Either of the two cells formed when a cell undergoes cell division by mitosis. Daughter cells are genetically identical to the parent cell because they contain the same number and type of chromosomes.

Other Word Forms

  • daughter-cell adjective

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.

If errors happen during the segregation, one daughter cell will have too many chromosomes, while the other has too few.

From Science Daily • May 13, 2024

The sister chromatids then need to be evenly split over the two daughter cells to ensure that each daughter cell is an exact copy of the parent cell.

From Science Daily • May 13, 2024

After a cell copies its DNA, the marks are partially lost, but the 3D folding allows each daughter cell to easily restore the chemical marks needed to maintain its identity.

From Science Daily • Nov. 16, 2023

During cell division, each daughter cell receives a copy of the DNA by a process known as DNA replication.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

At this time the chromosomes do not split, but one whole chromosome of each pair goes into each daughter cell.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.