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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of primary cell

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Co-author Jeffrey Miner, Ph.D., co-founder and chief scientific officer of Viscient Biosciences, underscored the importance of being able to produce a high-fidelity in vitro human primary cell model of MASH.

From Science Daily • Jan. 23, 2024

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

From Science Daily • Oct. 3, 2023

During the spring growing season, cells of the secondary xylem have a large internal diameter and their primary cell walls are not extensively thickened.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The pancreatic islets contain two primary cell types: alpha cells, which produce the hormone glucagon, and beta cells, which produce the hormone insulin.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

In the action of a primary cell, as we have seen, water is split into its constituent gases, oxygen and hydrogen.

From The Story of Electricity by Munro, John