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primary cell

American  

noun

Electricity.
  1. a cell designed to produce electric current through an electrochemical reaction that is not efficiently reversible, so that the cell when discharged cannot be efficiently recharged by an electric current.


primary cell British  

noun

  1. Also called: voltaic cell.  an electric cell that generates an electromotive force by the direct and usually irreversible conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy. It cannot be recharged efficiently by an electric current Compare secondary cell

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of primary cell

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“You might not need iPS cells if it’s easy to access animals or primary cells,” Li says.

From Nature

I’ve got steps you can follow to create a secondary number that directs calls and texts to your primary cell phone.

From Fox News

Detailed information about the quality of each RNA sample, RNA-seq library and sample information about each individual that has contributed primary cells for the therapeutic target discovery high-content imaging screening and transcriptome profiling.

From Nature

"First, we conducted our study using primary cells directly isolated from patients, allowing us to directly identify the sex-specific effect of estrogens," she said.

From US News

This is because the efficiency of HDR-mediated genome editing remains low in most primary cell types of relevance to gene therapy, such as HSCs82.

From Nature