Meanings
nounhairy cell (plural hairy cells)
plural hairy cells
- A kind of malignant B cell in an uncommon form of leukemia of unknown cause, having a "hairy" appearance under the microscope.
Studies of the viable blood cells with phase contrast microscopy showed peculiar cells that had numerous short villi and were arbitrarily called “hairy cells.”
1966 February, Robert Schrek, ““Hairy” Cells in Blood in Lymphoreticular Neoplastic Disease and “Flagellated” Cells of Normal Lymph Nodes”, in Blood, volume 27, number 2, page 199
Origin
Coined in 1966.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
hairy cell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hairy%20cell
MLA
“hairy cell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hairy%20cell. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hairy cell,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hairy%20cell.
Source: hairy cell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.