polar body
- one of the minute cells arising from the unequal meiotic divisions of the ovum at or near the time of fertilization.
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Origin of polar body
First recorded in 1885–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
polar body
- physiol a tiny cell containing little cytoplasm that is produced with the ovum during oogenesis when the oocyte undergoes meiosis
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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
polar body
- Either of two small cells formed by the ovum during its maturation, the first usually released just before ovulation and the second not until after the ovum has been discharged from the ovary and penetrated by a sperm cell.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
polar body
- One of the small cells that are produced during the development of an oocyte and ultimately degenerate. A polar body contains one of the nuclei derived from the first or second meiotic division but little or no cytoplasm. See Note at oogenesis.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.