petri dish

pe·tri dish

noun \ˈpē-trē-\

Definition of PETRI DISH

: a small shallow dish of thin glass or plastic with a loose cover used especially for cultures in bacteriology

Biographical Note for PETRI DISH

Pe·tri \ˈpā-trē\ , Julius Richard (1852–1921), German bacteriologist. Petri was an assistant to the eminent bacteriologist Robert Koch. In 1887 Petri introduced a vessel for growing bacteria that consists of two round rimmed plates, one serving as a cover for the other.