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Showing results for axenic. Search instead for xenic.
Synonyms

axenic

American  
[ey-zen-ik, ey-zee-nik] / eɪˈzɛn ɪk, eɪˈzi nɪk /

adjective

Biology.

  1. (of an experimental animal) raised under sterile conditions; germfree.

  2. (of a laboratory culture) uncontaminated.

axenic British  
/ eɪˈziːnɪk /

adjective

  1. (of a biological culture or culture medium) free from other microorganisms; uncontaminated

"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

Other Word Forms

  • axenically adverb

Etymology

Origin of axenic

1940–45; a- 6 + Greek xenikós foreign. See xeno-, -ic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They were fed varying diets of sterilized fish food, algae, housefly larvae and axenic worms.

From Time Magazine Archive

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.