Also called Japanese isinglass. Also called Japanese gelatin. Also called Chinese gelatin. Also called Chinese isinglass. Also agar-agar. a gelatinlike product of certain seaweeds, used for solidifying certain culture media, as a thickening agent for ice cream and other foods, as a substitute for gelatin, in adhesives, as an emulsifier, etc.
Biology. a culture medium having an agar base.
First recorded in 1885–90, agar is from the Malay word agaragar seaweed from which a gelatin is rendered, or the gelatin itself
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The 98 Agar swaggered his way to on the second day in Nottingham remains the highest score by a number 11 in Test cricket.
From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025
In two and a quarter hours at the crease, Agar had become a superstar.
From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025
"It was huge because it was so unexpected," Agar says.
From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025
"It's hard to describe the feeling," says Agar.
From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025
That afternoon, Dr. Agar and Mrs. Brewer came to our house to talk to my parents about the next step for STOP.
From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
