An immature precursor cell that develops into an eosinophil, a type of white blood cell involved in fighting parasites and allergic responses.
From 'eosin' (because eosinophils stain with eosin dye) plus 'blast' (from Greek 'blastos' meaning bud or germ, referring to immature cells), literally meaning 'eosin-staining precursor cell.'
The '-blast' suffix is a secret decoder ring in medicine—whenever you see it, you know you're looking at an immature, developing cell that will eventually mature into its adult form.
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