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Cell vs Cull - What's the difference?

cell | cull |

As nouns the difference between cell and cull

is that cell is a single-room dwelling for a hermit or cell can be (us|informal) a cellular phone while cull is a selection or cull can be (slang|dialectal) a fool, gullible person; a dupe.

As verbs the difference between cell and cull

is that cell is to place or enclose in a cell while cull is to pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).

cell

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) , later reinforced by (etyl) cel, (sele), (etyl) cele.

Noun

(en noun) (wikipedia cell)
  • A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.6:
  • So, taking them apart into his cell , / He to that point fit speaches gan to frame […].
  • A small room in a monastery or nunnery accommodating one person.
  • Gregor Mendel must have spent a good amount of time outside of his cell .
  • Each of the small hexagonal compartments in a honeycomb.
  • * 1858 , (Asa Gray), Introduction to Structural and Systematic Botany , fifth edition, p. 282:
  • Each of the two cells or lobes of the anther is marked with a lateral line or furrow, running from top to bottom.
  • (obsolete) Specifically, any of the supposed compartments of the brain, formerly thought to be the source of specific mental capacities, knowledge, or memories.
  • * 1890 , (Oscar Wilde), The Picture of Dorian Gray , ch.XVI:
  • From cell' to ' cell of his brain crept the one thought; and the wild desire to live, most terrible of all man's appetites, quickened into force each trembling nerve and fibre.
  • A section or compartment of a larger structure.
  • *, II.12:
  • Thou seest but the order and policie of this little Cell .
  • * 1810 , (Walter Scott), Lady of the Lake , II:
  • Not long shall honour'd Douglas dwell, / Like hunted stag, in mountain-cell .
  • A room in a prison for one or more inmates.
  • The combatants spent the night in separate cells .
  • A device which stores electrical]] power; used either singly or together in [[battery, batteries; the basic unit of a battery.
  • This MP3 player runs on 2 AAA cells .
  • (biology) The basic unit of a living organism, consisting of a quantity of protoplasm surrounded by a cell membrane, which is able to synthesize proteins and replicate itself.
  • * 1999 , Paul Brown & Dave King, The Guardian , 15 Feb 1999:
  • An American company has applied to experiment in Britain on Parkinson's disease sufferers by injecting their brains with cells from pigs.
  • * 2011 , Terence Allen & Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction , Oxford 2011, p. 3:
  • In multicellular organisms, groups of cells form tissues and tissues come together to form organs.
  • (meteorology) A small thunderstorm, caused by convection, that forms ahead of a storm front.
  • There is a powerful storm cell headed our way.
  • (computing) The minimal unit of a cellular automaton that can change state and has an associated behavior.
  • The upper right cell always starts with the color green.
  • (card games) In FreeCell-type games, a space where one card can be placed.
  • A small group of people forming part of a larger organization, often an outlawed one.
  • Those three fellows are the local cell of that organization.
  • (communication) A short, fixed-length packet as in .
  • Virtual Channel number 5 received 170 cells .
  • (communication) A region of radio reception that is a part of a larger radio network.
  • I get good reception in my home because it is near a cell tower.
  • (geometry) A three-dimensional facet of a polytope.
  • (statistics) The unit in a statistical array (a spreadsheet, for example) where a row and a column intersect.
  • (architecture) The space between the ribs of a vaulted roof.
  • (architecture) A cella.
  • (entomology) An area of an insect wing bounded by veins
  • Usage notes
    In the sense of an electrical device, "cell" is the technically correct name for a single unit of battery-type power storage, whereas a battery is a device comprising multiple of them, though it is often used for simple cells.
    Synonyms
    * See also
    Derived terms
    (terms derived from "cell") * battery cell * blood cell * brain cell * cancer cell * cellbound * cell division * cell house * cell line * cell membrane * cell theory * cell type * cellblock * cellmate * dry cell * fat cell * fuel cell * germ cell * helper T cell * host cell * photoconductive cell * photoelectric cell * photoemissive cell * photovoltaic cell * prison cell * nerve cell * red cell * red blood cell * sickle cell * skin cell * solar cell * stem cell * T cell

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To place or enclose in a cell.
  • * Warner
  • Celled under ground.
    (Webster 1913)

    Etymology 2

    From (cell phone), from (cellular phone), from (cellular) + (telephone)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (US, informal) A cellular phone.
  • Usage notes
    * Widely used attributively.

    cull

    English

    (Culling)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).
  • * 1984', cover star: JOE DALLESANDRO '''culled from Andy Warhol's FLESH — anonymous; ''sleeve notes from ' eponymous album
  • To gather, collect.
  • * Tennyson
  • whitest honey in fairy gardens culled
  • * 1977 , , Penguin Classics, p. 202:
  • Chaucer's prose Tale of Melibee is a dialectal homily of moral debate, exhibiting a learned store of ethical precept culled from many ancient authorities.
  • To select animals from a group and then kill them in order to reduce the numbers of the group in a controlled manner.
  • (nonstandard, euphemistic) To kill (animals etc).
  • To lay off in order to reduce the size of, get rid of.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • A selection.
  • An organised killing of selected animals.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-12-21
  • , author=Isobel Montgomery , title=A year that showed the best and worst of Britain , volume=188, issue=2, page=31 , date=2012-12-18 , magazine= citation , passage=It seemed that the sun shone and all was right in our Blakean islands until the government began to set in motion its promised cull of badgers in an effort to control bovine TB. Salvation for brock came in the form of an online petition started by Queen guitarist Brian May, the rising costs of the programme and the weather.}}
  • A piece unfit for inclusion within a larger group; an inferior specimen.
  • Etymology 2

    Perhaps an abbreviation of (cully).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang, dialectal) A fool, gullible person; a dupe.
  • * 1749 , Henry Fielding, Tom Jones , Folio Society 1973, p. 307:
  • Follow but my counsel, and I will show you a way to empty the pocket of a queer cull without any danger of the nubbing cheat.
    Synonyms
    * See also ----