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Glite Dictionary
plant cell

plant cell

2 3.0
A tiny living part of a plant with a stiff wall, green chloroplasts, and a large storage space inside
  • noun
  • /plænt sɛl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : célula vegetal
  • Cellulose is the primary component of plant cell walls.

And then they they sort of exude the plant cell wall.

Examples

  • Sunlight is absorbed by chlorophyll in plant cells, enabling photosynthesis.

  • When ice forms slowly, water has time to escape from plant cells so that ice forms in the spaces between the cells, not inside them.

    Academic text (1997)

  • In general, magnesium plays a role in strengthening the plant cell walls, allowing the plant to take in the nutrients it needs.

    Blog text (1)

  • Then we can collect RNA from plant cells near where the nematodes are feeding to learn about the plant's specific defense responses.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Plant cells will communicate stress signals if something changes the turgor (fluid) pressure within their tissues.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Ozone lowers crop yields by damaging plant cells and interfering with the production of chlorophyll, the pigment that enables plants to derive energy from sunlight.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The Na+ entered the plant cells through the high-affinity K+ transporter (HKT) and non-selective cation channels (Zhu, 2003).

    Academic text (2014)

  • Cellulose is the primary component of plant cells and forms their rigid structure.

  • Wombats break down food by grinding it, which releases starches from plant cells.

Surface Forms

plant cell singular
plant cells plural

Morphology

plant + cell

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'plant' (a photosynthetic organism) plus 'cell' (microscopic living unit): a cell belonging to or characteristic of a plant. This is a regular noun–noun compound following common attributive patterns found across languages, non-idiomatic and easily inferable by a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Plant cell got its name from what early scientists saw under a microscope: many tiny, box-like rooms in plants. One scientist, Robert Hooke, called these little rooms cells, so today a plant cell means one of the tiny building blocks that make a plant.