beaker

American  

[bee-ker] / ˈbi kər /

noun

1. a large drinking cup or glass with a wide mouth.

2. contents of a beaker.

   consuming a beaker of beer at one gulp.

3. a flat-bottomed cylindrical container, usually with a pouring lip, especially one used in a laboratory.

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adjective

1. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Beaker folk.

beaker British  

/ ˈbiːkə /

noun

1. a cup usually having a wide mouth

   a plastic beaker

2. a cylindrical flat-bottomed container used in laboratories, usually made of glass and having a pouring lip

3. the amount a beaker holds

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beaker Scientific  

/ bē′kər /

1. A wide, cylindrical glass container with a pouring lip, used especially in laboratories.

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Etymology

Origin of beaker

First recorded in 1300–50; alteration of Middle English biker, from Old Norse bikarr, from Old Saxon bikeri (compare Old High German bechari, German Becher, Dutch beker ), from unattested Latin bic(c)arium, -ius, of uncertain origin. See pitcher ¹

Example Sentences

Its lab, with a row of bikes parked inside the front door, hums quietly with workers in protective gear moving between beakers, kilns and mineral samples being tested for durability and composition.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Stanley hops past me and grabs a glass beaker thing from the back shelf.

From Literature

Already they had found a beaker of some thick green liquid, and another of red.

From Literature

They had restored thousands of bowls, bottles, vases, cups, jars, jugs, beakers, and plates in more than two hundred different shapes.

From Literature

Early on, the videos fall into the realm of hobbyist experiments: He exploded a small hydrogen balloon; he concocted glass beakers of acids.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• chalice