tissue
Americannoun
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tissues
plural
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Biology. an aggregate of similar cells and cell products forming a definite kind of structural material with a specific function, in a multicellular organism.
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any of several kinds of soft gauzy papers used for various purposes.
cleansing tissue; toilet tissue.
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an interwoven or interconnected series or mass.
a tissue of falsehoods.
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a piece of thin writing paper on which carbon copies are made.
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a woven fabric, especially one of light or gauzy texture, originally woven with gold or silver.
a blouse of a delicate tissue.
verb (used with object)
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to remove (a cosmetic or cream) with a facial tissue (often followed byoff ).
Tissue all cosmetics off the face before going to bed.
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to weave, especially with threads of gold and silver.
noun
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a part of an organism consisting of a large number of cells having a similar structure and function
connective tissue
nerve tissue
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a thin piece of soft absorbent paper, usually of two or more layers, used as a disposable handkerchief, towel, etc
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See tissue paper
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an interwoven series
a tissue of lies
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a woven cloth, esp of a light gauzy nature, originally interwoven with threads of gold or silver
verb
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rare to weave into tissue
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to decorate or clothe with tissue or tissue paper
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tissue
1325–75; Middle English tissew, variant of tissu < Middle French, Old French, noun use of past participle of tistre to weave < Latin texere
Explanation
Tissue is part of the body of a living thing that is made of similar cells, like the cardiac tissue of your heart. A tissue is also a soft, thin piece of paper used for wiping noses and tear drops. The noun tissue comes from the Old French word tissu, meaning “a ribbon, or belt of woven material.” In fact, as a verb, tissue means "weave fabric strands." Today, we think of tissues as the disposable paper for blowing our noses or packing presents. A different kind of tissue is found in the body — the groups of cells that have the same job, like scar tissue that protects a wound as it heals.
Vocabulary lists containing tissue
Cell Biology - Middle School
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Cell Biology - High School
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Animals (Zoology) - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
Instead of relying on invasive brain biopsies to look for characteristic tissue abnormalities, doctors could use genetic testing from a blood sample to identify the mutations associated with the disease.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
The surgery to remove a pulmonary nodule, or small growth of tissue in the lung, will mark the pope's first hospitalisation since he became head of the Catholic Church on May 8, 2025.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
The surgery to remove a pulmonary nodule, or small growth of tissue in the lung, marks the 71-year-old's first hospitalisation since he became head of the Catholic Church on May 8, 2025.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
Oxidative stress occurs when harmful reactive molecules overwhelm the body's protective defenses, potentially damaging cells and interfering with tissue repair.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
The tissue paper crinkles as I carry it back to the table, placing it in front of Uncle Phil.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
Using an innovative DNA recording technology, the researchers followed how those early cells multiplied, developed specialized roles, and eventually helped form a body with distinct organs and tissues.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
Mitochondrial diseases are particularly harmful to organs and tissues that require large amounts of energy, including the brain and muscles.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
The finding, demonstrated in mice, offers scientists a new way to investigate how the eye protects its delicate tissues and what happens when waste removal is disrupted.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
The team observed fluid moving from the back of the eye into the surrounding orbital tissues, which occupy the space around the eyeball.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
A box of tissues appears in front of me.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
A man's mother is so tissued and woven into his life and brain that he can no more describe her than describe the air and sunlight that bless his days.
From Mince Pie by Christopher Morley
“Her Maiestie doth straightly charge and command— “That none under the degree of a Countess wear: Cloth of gold or silver tissued; Silke of coulor purple.
From The Art of Needle-work, from the Earliest Ages, 3rd ed. Including Some Notices of the Ancient Historical Tapestries by Sutherland Menzies
National industry did all in its power to surmount this ignominious condition; she specially turned her attention to the manufacture of silks and of stuffs tissued with gold and silver.
From Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob
So saying, he number’d carefully the gold, The vases, tripods bright, and tissued robes, 260 But nothing miss’d of all.
From The Odyssey of Homer by William Cowper
At length an individual figure among the tissued huntsmen, as he gazed upon them more fixedly, seemed to leave the arras and to approach the bed of the slumberer.
From The Antiquary — Volume 01 by Sir Walter Scott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
