immune system

American  

noun

Anatomy.

• immune systems
  plural

1. a diffuse, complex network of interacting cells, cell products, and cell-forming tissues that protects the body from pathogens and other foreign substances, destroys infected and malignant cells, and removes cellular debris: the system includes the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes and lymph tissue, stem cells, white blood cells, antibodies, and lymphokines.

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immune system Scientific  

1. The body system in humans and other animals that protects the organism by distinguishing foreign tissue and neutralizing potentially pathogenic organisms or substances. The immune system includes organs such as the skin and mucous membranes, which provide an external barrier to infection, cells involved in the immune response, such as lymphocytes, and cell products such as lymphokines.

2. See also autoimmune disease immune response

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immune system Cultural  

1. The system in the body that works to ward off infection and disease. Central to this system are the white blood cells. Some white blood cells produce antibodies in response to specific antigens that may invade the body; others function as scavengers to fight infection by destroying bacteria and removing dead cells.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• immune systems
  plural

Etymology

Origin of immune system

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

immune system

Earlier clinical reports have shown that anti-AnWj antibodies can cause hemolytic transfusion reactions, in which transfused red blood cells are destroyed by the recipient's immune system.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

They become important when the immune system encounters red blood cells carrying an antigen it recognizes as foreign, particularly during transfusion or pregnancy.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

Rather, their likely target is a nerve and immune system that has become oversensitized, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Earlier work from Kipnis' laboratory helped overturn the long-standing idea that the brain was separated from the immune system.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

The site of this biological battle between the immune system and bacteria swells up and turns red.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman