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 agar plates that had fertile nematodes were soon empty as their progeny ate the food.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2024
The agar plates with sterile worms died off before they could clean their plate, allowing the bacteria to flourish.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2024
Limoncello “pearls” created with the help of lemon and agar agar.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 24, 2023
Chloe swabs parts of her body, or plants, and transfers the samples to petri dishes with a special growth medium inside called agar.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2022
We can imagine them, curious and dispassionate, observing us, as we would watch a bacterial culture in a dish of agar, to determine whether, this year again, we manage to avoid self- destruction.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
"It was everything I'd seen on TV," says Agar.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
"It felt like Anderson was swinging the ball three different ways," says Agar.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
Even the late Queen Elizabeth spoke to Agar about it.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
Agar only played two Ashes Tests, yet has his own place in the story of cricket's greatest rivalry.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
“We need to gather six thousand three hundred names,” Dr. Agar said.
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.
