Hemoglobin

//ˌhimoʊˈɡloʊbɪn// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The iron-containing substance in red blood cells that transports oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body; it consists of a protein (globulin), and haem (a porphyrin ring with an atom of iron at its centre). US, countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    a hemoprotein composed of globin and heme that gives red blood cells their characteristic color; function primarily to transport oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
hbalbuminalbuminoidantibodyantigenarterial blood

Example

More examples

"The tests confirmed that she has low blood pressure and low hemoglobin."

Etymology

Originally hematinoglobulin, from hematin (from Ancient Greek αἷμα (haîma, “blood”) + -in) + -o- + globulin (from Latin globus (“ball, sphere”) + -in).

Related phrases

Mediterranean-hemoglobin E diseasered blood cell

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.