CYTOPLASM
Dictionary entry overview: What does cytoplasm mean?
• CYTOPLASM (noun)
The noun CYTOPLASM has 1 sense:
1. the protoplasm of a cell excluding the nucleus; is full of proteins that control cell metabolism
Familiarity information: CYTOPLASM used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
• CYTOPLASM (noun)
Meaning:
The protoplasm of a cell excluding the nucleus; is full of proteins that control cell metabolism
Classified under:
Nouns denoting body parts
Synonyms:
cytol; cytoplasm
Hypernyms ("cytoplasm" is a kind of...):
living substance; protoplasm (the substance of a living cell (including cytoplasm and nucleus))
Meronyms (parts of "cytoplasm"):
cytoskeleton (a microscopic network of actin filaments and microtubules in the cytoplasm of many living cells that gives the cell shape and coherence)
microsome (a tiny granule in the cytoplasm that is where protein synthesis takes place under the direction of mRNA)
dictyosome; Golgi apparatus; Golgi body; Golgi complex (a netlike structure in the cytoplasm of animal cells (especially in those cells that produce secretions))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cytoplasm"):
syncytium (a mass of cytoplasm containing several nuclei and enclosed in a membrane but no internal cell boundaries (as in muscle fibers))
sarcoplasm (the cytoplasm of a striated muscle fiber)
central body; centrosome (small region of cytoplasm adjacent to the nucleus; contains the centrioles and serves to organize the microtubules)
ground substance; hyaloplasm (the clear nongranular portion of the cytoplasm of a cell)
endoplasm (the inner portion of the cytoplasm of a cell)
ectoplasm (the outer granule-free layer of cytoplasm)
cytosol (the aqueous part of the cytoplasm within which various particles and organelles are suspended)
cytoplast (the intact cytoplasmic content of a cell)
plasmodium (multinucleate sheet of cytoplasm characteristic of some stages of such organisms as slime molds)
Holonyms ("cytoplasm" is a part of...):
cell ((biology) the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; they may exist as independent units of life (as in monads) or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants and animals)
