EGG CELL

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does egg cell mean? 

• EGG CELL (noun)
  The noun EGG CELL has 1 sense:

1. the female reproductive cell; the female gamete

  Familiarity information: EGG CELL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EGG CELL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The female reproductive cell; the female gamete

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

egg cell; ovum

Hypernyms ("egg cell" is a kind of...):

gamete (a mature sexual reproductive cell having a single set of unpaired chromosomes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "egg cell"):

egg (animal reproductive body consisting of an ovum or embryo together with nutritive and protective envelopes; especially the thin-shelled reproductive body laid by e.g. female birds)

ootid (mature ovum after penetration by sperm but before the formation of a zygote)

ovule (a small or immature ovum)

Holonyms ("egg cell" is a part of...):

female reproductive system (the reproductive system of females)

 Context examples 

This communication pathway is derived from granulosa cells and another structure in the ovary called the oocyte, or immature egg cell.

(Study solves ovarian cell mystery, shedding new light on reproductive disorders, NIH)

In somatic cell nuclear transfer, scientists remove the nucleus, which is the organelle that contains the chromosomes, from an unfertilized ovum, or egg cell, and implant the nucleus from a somatic cell, or non-reproductive cell, into that ovum.

(Healthy cloned monkeys born in Shanghai, Wikinews)