agar
[ah-gahr, ag-er]
- Also a·gar-a·gar. Also called Chinese gelatin, Chinese isinglass, Japanese gelatin, Japanese isinglass. 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.
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Origin of agar
First recorded in 1885–90, agar is from the Malay word agaragar seaweed from which a gelatin is rendered, or the gelatin itself
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for agar-agar
Historical Examples
Agar-agar moss is shipped from Singapore to the extent of 13,000 tons a-year.
The Commercial Products of the Vegetable KingdomP. L. Simmonds
Agar-agar, a gum extracted from a sea-weed, used in bacteriological investigations.
The Nuttall EncyclopaediaEdited by Rev. James Wood
The latter had come for the purpose of collecting the gelatinous Fucus, agar-agar.
Certain constipation biscuits, sterilized dry bran, or agar-agar may be eaten with the breakfast cereal.
The Mother and Her ChildWilliam S. Sadler
Cultures of the comma bacillus were also made in agar-agar jelly, which is not liquefied by them.
agar
- a complex gelatinous carbohydrate obtained from seaweeds, esp those of the genus Gelidium, used as a culture medium for bacteria, a laxative, in food such as ice cream as a thickening agent (E406), etcAlso called: agar-agar
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Word Origin
C19: Malay
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
agar
(ā′gär′, ä′gär′)- A gelatinous material derived from marine algae, used as a base for bacterial culture media and as a stabilizer and thickener in food.
- A culture medium containing this material.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
agar
[ā′gär′, ä′gär′]
- A gelatinous material obtained from marine algae, especially seaweed, used as a medium for growing bacterial cultures in the laboratory and as a thickener and stabilizer in food products.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.