immune system

American  

noun

Anatomy.

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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Etymology

Origin of immune system

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

But when Danny Casper fell ill with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare condition in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its nerves, he asked Ruohonen to temporarily join his team in his place.

From Los Angeles Times

The findings highlight how powerfully both genetics and life experience shape immune cell identity and immune system behavior.

From Science Daily

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known, which can also wipe out the immune system’s “memory,” making illness and death from other pathogens more likely.

From Salon

Multiple sclerosis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks myelin, the protective layer surrounding nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord.

From Science Daily

These immune cells normally act as brakes on the immune system, which means they can weaken the body's ability to attack cancer.

From Science Daily