Definition of "osteoclast" [os•te•o•clast]

• A large multinucleate cell found in growing bone that resorbs bony tissue, as in the formation of canals and cavities. (noun)
• An instrument used in surgical osteoclasis. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Slide 26: (OPG), also known as osteoclast inhibitory factor (OCIF) is a soluble decoy receptor for RANKL (111)."
• "RANKL, also known as osteoclast differentiation factor (ODF), tumor necrosis factor - related activation-induced cytokine (TRANCE) and osteoprotegerin ligand, is a member of the TNF ligand family (106) produced in osteoblastic lineage cells and activated T cells"
• "Skeleton Crew osteoclast The drugs target a protein called RANK Ligand, which helps regulate cells called osteoclasts that break down bone."