Apoptosis
//ˌæ.pəˈtoʊ.sɪs// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A process of programmed cell death by which cells undergo an ordered sequence of events which leads to death of the cell, as occurs during growth and development of the organism, as a part of normal cell aging, or as a response to cellular injury. countable, uncountable
"The term apoptosis is proposed for a hitherto little recognized mechanism of controlled cell deletion, which appears to play a complementary but opposite role to mitosis in the regulation of animal cell populations."
- 2 a type of cell death in which the cell uses specialized cellular machinery to kill itself; a cell suicide mechanism that enables metazoans to control cell number and eliminate cells that threaten the animal's survival wordnet
Example
More examples"The term apoptosis is proposed for a hitherto little recognized mechanism of controlled cell deletion, which appears to play a complementary but opposite role to mitosis in the regulation of animal cell populations."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀπόπτωσις (apóptōsis, “a falling off”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + πτῶσις (ptôsis, “falling”).
Related phrases
More for "apoptosis"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.