buffy coat

American  

noun

Biochemistry.

1. a yellowish-white layer consisting of leukocytes that, upon centrifugation of blood, covers the red blood cells.

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Etymology

Origin of buffy coat

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

It floats at the top of the tube separated from the heaviest elements, the erythrocytes, by a buffy coat of leukocytes and platelets.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Above the buffy coat is the blood plasma, normally a pale, straw- colored fluid, which constitutes the remainder of the sample.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

This layer is referred to as the buffy coat because of its color; it normally constitutes less than 1 percent of a blood sample.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

True or false: The buffy coat is the portion of a blood sample that is made up of its proteins.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Tourdes, whose analyses follow, states that "blood drawn from a vein was rarely buffed; if a buffy coat existed, it was thin, and generally a mere iridization upon the surface of the clot."

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various