ANTIBODY
Dictionary entry overview: What does antibody mean?
• ANTIBODY (noun)
The noun ANTIBODY has 1 sense:
1. any of a large variety of proteins normally present in the body or produced in response to an antigen which it neutralizes, thus producing an immune response
Familiarity information: ANTIBODY used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
• ANTIBODY (noun)
Meaning:
Any of a large variety of proteins normally present in the body or produced in response to an antigen which it neutralizes, thus producing an immune response
Classified under:
Nouns denoting substances
Hypernyms ("antibody" is a kind of...):
protein (any of a large group of nitrogenous organic compounds that are essential constituents of living cells; consist of polymers of amino acids; essential in the diet of animals for growth and for repair of tissues; can be obtained from meat and eggs and milk and legumes)
Meronyms (parts of "antibody"):
active site (the part of an enzyme or antibody where the chemical reaction occurs)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "antibody"):
autoantibody (an antibody acting against tissues of the organism that produces it)
opsonin (an antibody in blood serum that attaches to invading microorganisms and other antigens to make them more susceptible to the action of phagocytes)
monoclonal; monoclonal antibody (any of a class of antibodies produced in the laboratory by identical offspring of a hybridoma; very specific for a particular location in the body)
alloantibody; isoantibody (an antibody that occurs naturally against foreign tissues from a person of the same species)
Forssman antibody; heterophil antibody; heterophile antibody (an antibody found in the blood of someone suffering from infectious mononucleosis)
agglutinin (an antibody that causes agglutination of a specific antigen)
antitoxin (an antibody that can neutralize a specific toxin)
Rh antibody (rhesus factor antibody)
ABO antibodies (blood type antibodies)
precipitin (an antibody that causes precipitation when it unites with its antigen)
Ig; immune gamma globulin; immune globulin; immune serum globulin; immunoglobulin (a class of proteins produced in lymph tissue in vertebrates and that function as antibodies in the immune response)
