ROD CELL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rod cell mean? 

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

1. a visual receptor cell that is sensitive to dim light

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• ROD CELL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A visual receptor cell that is sensitive to dim light

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

retinal rod; rod; rod cell

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

visual cell (one of the cells of the retina that is sensitive to light)

Meronyms (parts of "rod cell"):

retinal purple; rhodopsin; visual purple (a red photopigment in the retinal rods of vertebrates; dissociates into retinene by light)

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

retina (the innermost light-sensitive membrane covering the back wall of the eyeball; it is continuous with the optic nerve)

 Context examples 

Phosducin, encoded by the PDC gene, is a phosphoprotein that is located in the outer and inner segments of the rod cells in the retina.

(Phosducin, NCI Thesaurus/LocusLink)

Rod cells activate horizontal cells, which inhibit cone cell signaling to retinal ganglion cells.

(New color vision pathway unveiled, NIH)

Rod cells haven’t been thought to play a role in color vision, but they do contain a pigment that’s sensitive to green light.

(New color vision pathway unveiled, NIH)

Thus, the ganglion cells can integrate both green light information coming from rod cells and blue/UV light information coming from cone cells in order to send information about color to the brain.

(New color vision pathway unveiled, NIH)