PROTOPLASM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does protoplasm mean? 

• PROTOPLASM (noun)
  The noun PROTOPLASM has 1 sense:

1. the substance of a living cell (including cytoplasm and nucleus)

  Familiarity information: PROTOPLASM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PROTOPLASM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The substance of a living cell (including cytoplasm and nucleus)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

living substance; protoplasm

Hypernyms ("protoplasm" is a kind of...):

substance (the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "protoplasm"):

cytol; cytoplasm (the protoplasm of a cell excluding the nucleus; is full of proteins that control cell metabolism)

karyoplasm; nucleoplasm (the protoplasm that constitutes the nucleus of a cell)

germ plasm; plasm (the protoplasm of the germ cells that contains chromosomes and genes)

blood platelet; platelet; thrombocyte (tiny bits of protoplasm found in vertebrate blood; essential for blood clotting)

 Context examples 

The smallest units of living structure capable of independent existence, composed of a membrane-enclosed mass of protoplasm and containing a nucleus or nucleoid.

(Cell, NCI Thesaurus)

Cell part which consists of macromolecules aggregated into discrete structures in the protoplasm.

(Cytoplasmic Organelle, NCI Thesaurus)

Minute protoplasmic masses that make up organized tissue, consisting of a nucleus which is surrounded by protoplasm which contains the various organelles and is enclosed in the cell or plasma membrane.

(Murine Cell Types, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A thin pliable sheet separating organelles from the protoplasm.

(Intracellular Membrane, NCI Thesaurus)

A generic term for fats and lipoids, the alcohol-ether-soluble constituents of protoplasm, which are insoluble in water.

(Lipid, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)