neutrophil

1. biologyOf a cell: being more easily or more fully stained by neutral dyes than by acidic or alkaline (basic) ones.

plural neutrophils

1. biologySuch a cell, especially a particular type of white blood cell.

   One litre of human blood contains about five billion neutrophils (around half of all white blood cells).

   2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 89

   2 more examples

   Chris learned that his level of infection-fighting neutrophil cells, normally churned out by the bone marrow, had fallen so low that his defenses were in tatters.

   2017 March 29, Mosaic, “The life-saving treatment that’s being thrown in the trash”, in CNN

   All mammals naturally make hypochlorous acid to fight infection. When you cut yourself, for instance, white blood cells known as neutrophils go to the site of injury, capturing any invading pathogens.

   2025 May 1, Jen Schwartz, “The magic molecule”, in Scientific American, volume 332, number 5, pages 54-55

   Synonyms: neutrophil granulocyte, neutrophilic granulocyte