test tube

¹

noun

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

test-tube

²

[ test-toob, -tyoob ]

adjective

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

test tube

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

test tube

/ 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of test tube¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Origin of test tube²

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Eggs made in a test tube couldn’t develop naturally outside the ovary.

From Singularity Hub 

This is the “gold standard” of making sperm or eggs inside a test tube, said Yang and Ng.

From Singularity Hub 

You could, in theory, have a huge DNA library stored in a test tube—Bathe notes a coffee mug of DNA could store all the world’s data—but without an easy way to search and retrieve the exact file you’re looking for, it’s worthless.

From Singularity Hub 

In a test tube, ACE2 opened pig cells to SARS-CoV-2 like a welcome friend.

From FiveThirtyEight

Those test tube studies are the source of most recent headlines about variants getting around protection conferred by vaccines.

From MIT Technology Review

It is a mega-leap from the agar and test-tube finding to real patients and their delicate lungs.

From The Daily Beast

Scientists hope the five-ounce patty, made from 100 percent test-tube meat, heralds the future of food production.

From The Daily Beast

Participants would spit in a test tube before the start of the match, immediately after, and the next morning.

From The Daily Beast

Should the vapor not condense well, the test-tube may be immersed in a glass of cold water.

From Project Gutenberg

For comparison, the gas may be passed through a test-tube containing an equal amount of distilled water.

From Project Gutenberg

The animal body is not a test-tube and, in it, the laws of physics are modified by those of physiology.

From Project Gutenberg

If sulphur is put into a test tube and heated, it at first melts and becomes quite thin like water.

From Project Gutenberg

To a little of this filtrate in a test tube add the same volume of a saturated aqueous solution of picric acid.

From Project Gutenberg