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• test tube
  test tube

  noun

  a hollow cylinder of thin glass with one end closed, used in chemical and biological experimentation and analysis.
• test-tube
  test-tube

  adjective

  produced in or as if in a test tube; synthetic or experimental.

test tube

¹ American  

noun

• test tubes
  plural

1. a hollow cylinder of thin glass with one end closed, used in chemical and biological experimentation and analysis.

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test-tube ² American  

[test-toob, -tyoob] / ˈtɛstˌtub, -ˌtjub /

adjective

1. produced in or as if in a test tube; synthetic or experimental.

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test tube British  

noun

1. a cylindrical round-bottomed glass tube open at one end: used in scientific experiments

2. (modifier) made synthetically in, or as if in, a test tube

   a test-tube product

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test tube Scientific  

/ tĕst /

1. A cylindrical tube of clear glass, usually open at one end and rounded at the other, used as a container for small amounts of a substance in laboratory tests and experiments.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• test tubes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of test tube¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Origin of test-tube²

First recorded in 1885–90

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

test tube test-tube

As for concerns about why there might be plague in a test tube in Siberia: the lack of transparency from Russia is worrying for biosecurity experts.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

Early reports suggested that she fell ill after breaking a test tube.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

Russian news outlet People of Baikal reported on Friday that the dead woman -- named as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova -- may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

It comprised a brick-coloured concoction bubbling away in a test tube.

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2025

I close my eyes and start my counting/breathing, but that’s when Mr. Stanley comes by and puts a test tube in Kendrick’s and my holder.

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

If fertility continues to fall, we may indeed drift toward the world Aldous Huxley imagined—a “brave new world” possible only with test-tube babies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

Jarrell-Searcy's parents met over a test-tube centrifuge in a laboratory.

From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026

Ten years ago this week, Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues published the results of a test-tube experiment on bacterial genes.

From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2022

Mills explained to Salon via email that the press release Rogan cited refers to "a test-tube study and has the same strengths and limitations as any test tube study."

From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2022

Heredity, date of fertilization, membership of Bokanovsky Group—details were transferred from test-tube to bottle.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

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