immune system

noun

, Anatomy.

1. a diffuse, complex network of interacting cells, cell products, and cell-forming tissues that protects the body from pathogens and other foreign substances, destroys infected and malignant cells, and removes cellular debris: the system includes the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes and lymph tissue, stem cells, white blood cells, antibodies, and lymphokines.

immune system

1. The body system in humans and other animals that protects the organism by distinguishing foreign tissue and neutralizing potentially pathogenic organisms or substances. The immune system includes organs such as the skin and mucous membranes, which provide an external barrier to infection, cells involved in the immune response, such as lymphocytes, and cell products such as lymphokines.
2. See also autoimmune disease

immune system

1. The system in the body that works to ward off infection and disease. Central to this system are the white blood cells . Some white blood cells produce antibodies in response to specific antigens that may invade the body; others function as scavengers to fight infection by destroying bacteria and removing dead cells.

Word History and Origins

Origin of immune system¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Immunotherapy is a promising treatment that recruits the immune system to help fight cancer, but it has had limited success in gastrointestinal cancers.

From Science Daily

A long-standing question therefore has been whether the immune system can generate antibodies -- proteins that recognise and neutralise specific pathogens -- that can target the wide variety of PfEMP1 types in circulation.

From Science Daily

In a flurry of announcements, the formation of the human skeleton and the early immune system have also been mapped out in detail.

From BBC

Two of these subtypes have the ability to influence the immune system, but in different ways.

From Science Daily

The preparations, as Zeldovich notes, often contain remains of vanquished bacteria that, when injected, inflame the immune system and put the patient at risk.

From Salon