Meaning & use
cellular
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparablebiology
Relating to the cells of living things.
Grammar: Used before a noun: cellular processes, cellular biology. No comparative forms.
Patterns
- cellular biology
- cellular processes
- cellular damage
The course covers cellular biology and genetics.
Cellular damage can lead to serious illness.
Researchers are studying cellular responses to stress.
adjectivenot comparableAmerican
Relating to a mobile phone system that uses a network of local stations.
Grammar: Used before a noun, especially in American English: cellular network, cellular coverage. In British English, 'mobile' is more common.
Patterns
- cellular network
- cellular coverage
- cellular data
The storm knocked out the cellular network for hours.
We don't have cellular coverage in this remote valley.
He turned off cellular data to save battery.
Common combinations
- cellular biology
- She teaches cellular biology at the university.
- cellular network
- The cellular network was overloaded during the festival.
- cellular coverage
- There is no cellular coverage deep in the mountains.
- cellular data
- I switched to cellular data when the Wi-Fi went down.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mobile
- British English prefers 'mobile' for phone networks, while 'cellular' is more common in American English.
Word family
- cell noun
- The basic unit of living things, or a small room in a prison.
- cellularly adverb
- In a way that relates to cells; rare and mostly technical.
Commonly confused: cellular or cellulite?
cellular vs cellulite
Cellulite is dimpled fat under the skin, not a biological or phone-related word.
Practice
The company is investing in ___ networks to improve rural coverage.
Choose one answer.
We say 'cellular networks' for mobile phone systems. 'Cellulite' is a skin condition, 'cellularly' is an adverb, and 'cell' would need to be 'cell networks', which is not the usual term.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cellular”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.