white blood cells

Cultural  

1. Colorless cells in the blood that help combat infection. Some white blood cells act as scavengers by engulfing foreign particles (such as bacteria) and destroying them. Others produce antibodies or destroy dead cells. (See AIDS.)

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Example Sentences

Two types of white blood cells are involved - the B cells and T cells which normally protect the body from infection.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026

Lymphocytes are white blood cells that help direct the adaptive immune response.

From Science Daily • May 31, 2026

In this case, the virus has been modified to replicate only inside tumor cells, causing them to burst, while simultaneously triggering a more aggressive immune response from the body’s own white blood cells.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

Longer-term exposure increases the risk of cancers of the white blood cells, such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, as well as breast cancer.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026

He had precipitated it in dense, swirling strands out of white blood cells that he had wrung out of human pus in surgical dressings.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee