primary cell

American  

noun

Electricity.

1. a cell designed to produce electric current through an electrochemical reaction that is not efficiently reversible, so that the cell when discharged cannot be efficiently recharged by an electric current.

---

primary cell British  

noun

1. Also called: voltaic cell.  an electric cell that generates an electromotive force by the direct and usually irreversible conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy. It cannot be recharged efficiently by an electric current Compare secondary cell

---

Etymology

Origin of primary cell

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

To investigate why, the team performed RNA sequencing on primary cells from two patients with HGPS.

From Science Daily

Standard primary cell cultures in current in vitro dishes don't survive long, Kim said.

From Science Daily

“It is not clear what the activity would be in different primary cell types that are infected by SARS-CoV-2,” she says.

From Science Magazine

“You might not need iPS cells if it’s easy to access animals or primary cells,” Li says.

From Nature

She envisages taking "primary cells" from a living or recently slaughtered animal, or using a population of "immortalised" cells, that will keep on dividing.

From BBC