Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A natural polysaccharide, (C6H10O5)n, that is the main constituent of wood, cotton, and the cell wall in most plants, and is used to manufacture numerous products, including paper, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and explosives.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Containing cells.
  • noun A light material used as a packing in coffer-dam compartments of warships in the vicinity of the water-line. In the United States navy, cellulose from the husk of the cocoanut and that from the pith of cornstalks have been used for this purpose. See coffer-dam, 3.
  • noun In botany, the essential constituent of the primary wall-membrane of all cells, a secretion from the contained protoplasm, isomerous with starch in its composition, and allied to starch, sugar, and inulin.
  • Formed of cellulose.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Consisting of, or containing, cells.
  • noun (Chem.) The substance which constitutes the essential part of the solid framework of plants, of ordinary wood, cotton, linen, paper, etc. It is also found to a slight extent in certain animals, as the tunicates. It is a carbohydrate, (C6H10O5)n, isomeric with starch, and is convertible into starches and sugars by the action of heat and acids. When pure, it is a white amorphous mass. See starch, granulose, lignin.
  • noun the delicate framework which remains when the soluble part (granulose) of starch is removed by saliva or pepsin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A complex carbohydrate that forms the main constituent of the cell wall in most plants and is important in the manufacture of numerous products, such as paper, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and explosives.
  • noun organic chemistry A polysaccharide containing many glucose units in parallel chains.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a polysaccharide that is the chief constituent of all plant tissues and fibers

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from cellule, biological cell; see cellule.]

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