petri dish

[ pee-tree ]

/ ˈpi tri /

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noun

a shallow, circular, glass or plastic dish with a loose-fitting cover over the top and sides, used for culturing bacteria and other microorganisms.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of petri dish

1890–95; named after J. R. Petri (died 1921), German bacteriologist

Words nearby petri dish

Petrarchism, Petrarchist, petrel, petri-, petrichor, petri dish, Petrie, petrifaction, petrified, Petrified Forest, Petrified Forest National Park

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use petri dish in a sentence

Shiwakoti experimented with different exit scenarios using square petri dishes that had exits located in the middle of a side and in the corner.
Want to Get Out Alive? Follow the Ants - Issue 95: Escape|Conor Myhrvold|January 28, 2021|Nautilus
Before we could grow cultures in petri dishes and mix compounds in test tubes, Mother Nature was the world’s pharmacy.
Four plants that are scientifically proven to be therapeutic|Sandra Gutierrez G.|January 25, 2021|Popular-Science
While lab-grown meat was busy trying to find its way out of the petri dish, plant-based meat substitutes were undergoing a revolution.
Your first lab-grown burger is coming soon—and it’ll be “blended”|Katie McLean|December 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review
She went back to her makeshift lab, placed a piece of udder in a petri dish, doused it with amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and salts, and carefully deposited it in an incubator.
Startups are racing to reproduce breast milk in the lab|Katie McLean|December 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review

Forty mosquitoes of each species were released into petri dishes coated in the original deltamethrin dust spray, and another 40 into a dish covered in the new form of the insecticide.
Heating deltamethrin may help it kill pesticide-resistant mosquitoes|Maria Temming|October 19, 2020|Science News
It remains the receptive petri dish to any and all sorts of colonies of humanity that finally managed to find one another.
Five Subreddits You May Have Missed, and Probably Still Should Give a Miss|Kelly Williams Brown|April 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Roger basically had a petri dish to see what worked on cable,” Griffin says.
Banter With The Beast: MSNBC’s Head Honcho Phil Griffin on Admiring Roger Ailes and More|Lloyd Grove|January 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My immune system was shot; my body had become a petri dish for every new virus of the week.
Reconsidering the War on Steroids|Jonathan Miller|September 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Holy Land has become a petri dish for hate, and separating the Israelis and the Palestinians has become nearly impossible.
No, Most Palestinians Aren't Anti-Semites|Maysoon Zayid|May 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But Lebanon was a tiny country where the fighting could be contained like a plague in a Petri dish.
Syria: There Goes the Neighborhood|Christopher Dickey|August 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Petri dish or cleaned photographic plates for sputum examination.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
Pour each tube into a separate Petri dish and allow it to solidify.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique|John William Henry Eyre
Transfer each slice of egg by means of a pair of sterilised forceps to a Petri dish or large capsule.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique|John William Henry Eyre
Liquefy a tube of gelatine (or agar) by heat, pour it into a Petri dish, and allow it to solidify.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique|John William Henry Eyre
As soon as dry, transfer the cover-slip films to the ventilated Petri dish by means of sterile forceps.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique|John William Henry Eyre

British Dictionary definitions for petri dish

Petri dish

/ (ˈpɛtrɪ) /

noun

a shallow circular flat-bottomed dish, often with a fitting cover, used in laboratories, esp for producing cultures of microorganisms

Word Origin for Petri dish

C19: named after J. R. Petri (1852–1921), German bacteriologist

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

Scientific definitions for petri dish

petri dish

[ pē′trē ]

A shallow, circular dish with a loose cover, usually made of transparent glass or plastic and used to grow cultures of microorganisms. The petri dish is named after German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri (1852-1921).