Blood: The familiar red fluid in the body that contains white and red blood cells, platelets,

proteins, and other elements. The blood is transported throughout the body by the circulatory system. Blood functions in two directions: arterial and venous. Arterial blood is the means by which oxygen and nutrients are transported to tissues while venous blood is the means by which carbon dioxide and metabolic by-products are transported to the lungs and kidneys, respectively, for removal from the body.

1. a. The fluid consisting of plasma, blood cells, and platelets that is circulated by the heart through the vertebrate vascular system, carrying oxygen and nutrients to and waste materials away from all body tissues. b. A functionally similar fluid in animals other than vertebrates. c. The juice or sap of certain plants. 2. A vital or animating force; lifeblood. 3. One of the four humors of ancient and medieval physiology, identified with the blood found in blood vessels, and thought to cause cheerfulness. 4. Bloodshed; murder. 5. Temperament or disposition: a person of hot blood and fiery temper. 6. a. Descent from a common ancestor; parental lineage. b. Family relationship; kinship. c. Descent from noble or royal lineage: a princess of the blood. d. Recorded descent from purebred stock. e. National or racial ancestry. 7. A dandy. tr.v. blooded, blooding, bloods 1. To give (a hunting dog) its first taste of blood. 2. a. To subject (troops) to experience under fire: "The measure of an army is not known until it has been blooded" (Tom Clancy). b. To initiate by subjecting to an unpleasant or difficult experience. Idioms: bad blood Long-standing animosity. in cold blood Deliberately, coldly, and dispassionately. in (one's) blood So characteristic as to seem inherited or passed down by family tradition.

Definition: The immune system is a collection of organs, cells and tissues that work together to protect your body from disease caused mostly by pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi). Some parts of the immune system are your tonsils, lymph nodes, appendix, spleen and

thymus. In addition, specialized cells, called "white blood cells," patrol throughout your body looking for pathogens. The immune system is very complex and plays a direct role in immunization, infectious diseases, allergies and autoimmune diseases (such as autoimmune hepatitis and rheumatoid arthritis). For people with viral hepatitis, the immune system is extremely active and is responsible for whether the disease will be acute, fulminant or chronic. Definition: The immune system is a complex system that protects the body against organisms or substances that might cause diseases, as well as tumor cells. Most importantly, the immune system has to be able to recognize whether cells in the body belong there or are foreign. The way cells in the immune system fight off an invasion by something foreign (such as a bacterium) depends on the extend of the invasion. 1. The first-line of defense created by the immune system is a barrier that stops foreign organisms (pathogens) at the point of entry, keeping them from causing a full infection. A classic example of this is your skin, which keeps pathogens outside the body and actually secretes chemicals that can fight them if they begin to invade. 2. If these first-line defense fail, a portion of the immune system makes antibodies to parts of the foreign organism, hopefully killing it. Antibodies actually provide the immune system with "memory," enhancing the immune response if the body's exposed to a specific pathogen a second time. 3. In the final line of defense, certain immune system cells directly attack the foreign organism in an attempt to kill it. When the immune system is healthy, it's able to fight off many foreign organisms, but there are times when the immune system doesn't work as well. This can occur if cells in the immune system aren't able to do their job or they "overdo" their job attacking the body's own cells, thinking they're foreign.