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.

I think about Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman who died at the age of 31 from cervical cancer.

From Slate • Jan. 11, 2026

But for defendant’s counsel it was a miscarriage of law: “Objection. Calls for legal conclusion. Calls for expert opinion. Relevance. Lacks foundation,” she interjected, prompting a weary, “Overruled,” from the judge.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2025

Some even envision the immortality of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells were taken without consent for what became revolutionary breakthroughs in medicine, as an Afrofuturist parable.

From New York Times • Mar. 16, 2024

A Black mother of five from southern Virginia, Lacks and her family were living outside Baltimore when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2023

There are no records of Fannie’s life, but she was most likely born a slave on the Lacks property, and like most Lacks slaves who stayed on the plantation as sharecroppers, she never left.

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