The Collaborative International Dictionary
Giant \Gi"ant\, a. Like a giant; extraordinary in size, strength, or power; as, giant brothers; a giant son.
Giant cell. (Anat.) See Myeloplax.
Giant clam (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve shell of the genus Tridacna, esp. T. gigas, which sometimes weighs 500 pounds. The shells are sometimes used in churches to contain holy water.
Giant heron (Zo["o]l.), a very large African heron ( Ardeomega goliath). It is the largest heron known.
Giant kettle, a pothole of very large dimensions, as found in Norway in connection with glaciers. See Pothole.
Giant powder. See Nitroglycerin.
Giant puffball (Bot.), a fungus ( Lycoperdon giganteum), edible when young, and when dried used for stanching wounds.
Giant salamander (Zo["o]l.), a very large aquatic salamander ( Megalobatrachus maximus), found in Japan. It is the largest of living Amphibia, becoming a yard long.
Giant squid (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of very large squids, belonging to Architeuthis and allied genera. Some are over forty feet long.
Wikipedia
A giant cell is a mass formed by the union of several distinct cells (usually macrophages), often forming a granuloma. It can arise in response to an infection, such as from tuberculosis, herpes, or HIV, or foreign body. These multinucleate giant cells also known as (MGCs) are cells of monocyte or macrophage lineage fused together.
Types include:
- Foreign-body giant cell
- Langhans giant cell
- Touton giant cells
- Giant-cell arteritis
- Reed–Sternberg cell
Also
- as in subependymal giant cell astrocytoma
Usage examples of "giant cell".
The Nar interfered with normal embryonic development there and came up with a single giant cell that absorbs nourishment through an outer membrane and divides when it gets big enough.
He realized that what he really was was a rather large and amorphous entity like an ethereal jellyfish or a giant cell in the center of which his organs .
Root transmitted through the voice-synthesizer the giant cell wore around the base of a long cilium.