Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The presence of an excessive number of white corpuscles in the blood, especially when merely the result of temporary causes and not produced by grave disease.
  • noun The number, actual or relative, of white corpuscles in a given specimen of blood, an excess being designated hyperleucocytosis, and a number below the normal hypoleueocytosis or leucopenia.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun pathology A raised white blood cell count, above the normal range.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an abnormal increase in the number of white blood cells in the blood as a result of infection (as in leukemia)

Etymologies

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Examples

  • This, as already pointed out, depends upon the increase of opsonins, though it is also to be noted that in many infective conditions there is another factor present, namely a leucocytosis, that is, an increase of the leucocytes in the blood, and the defensive powers of the body are thereby increased.

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" Various

  • If however a second chloroformization is carried out a month or so after the first, in conditions as nearly identical with the first as may be permissible, then on the third or the fourth or the fifth day in particular, severe leucocytosis will appear, reaching 220 or 250 leucocytes.

    Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture 1967

  • An initial injection which makes the body anaphylactic, therefore, induces a marked leucocytosis and this is the only symptom that can be observed.

    Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture 1967

  • There can be no question of real anaphylaxis, for anaphylaxis is always severe, immediate and terrible, whereas in this instance, the leucocytosis only appeared on the third or the fourth day.

    Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture 1967

  • I used a reagent that is extremely sensitive, namely leucocytosis.

    Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture 1967

  • With weaker doses of antigen and with antigens that are harmless or practically so, such as peptone, the anaphylactic leucocytosis does not last as long but is nevertheless pronounced.

    Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture 1967

  • A dog is given raw meat, even one fifth in quantity compared with the cooked meat, then in three or four hours time, leucocytosis results.

    Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture 1967

  • There is no reaction more sensitive than that of leucocytosis.

    Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture 1967

  • A dog is given cooked meat: no leucocytosis results.

    Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture 1967

  • A quantity of peptone equal to 0.005 per kilo live weight will still give leucocytosis and bring about either immunity or anaphylaxis.

    Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture 1967

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