neutrophil

From German Neutrophil, from neutro- (“neutro-”) + -phil (“-phile”), equivalent to neutro- +‎ -phil.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuːtɹəfɪl/

neutrophil

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

neutrophil (plural neutrophils)

1. (biology, medicine) Such a cell, especially a particular type of white blood cell.
   • 2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 89:

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

   • 2017 March 29, Mosaic, “The life-saving treatment that’s being thrown in the trash”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     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.

   • 2025 May 1, Jen Schwartz, “The magic molecule”, in Scientific American‎^[2], volume 332, number 5, pages 54-55:

     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.

• neutrophil granulocyte, neutrophilic granulocyte

• granulocyte
• multinuclear leukocyte
• polymorphonuclear leukocyte
• PMN
• PML
• reverse-transmigratory neutrophil