culture

noun

cul·ture | \ ˈkəl-chər

Definition of culture

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group also : the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time popular culture Southern culture

b : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization a corporate culture focused on the bottom line

c : the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic studying the effect of computers on print culture Changing the culture of materialism will take time …— Peggy O'Mara

d : the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations

2a : enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training

b : acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills a person of culture

3 : the act or process of cultivating living material (such as bacteria or viruses) in prepared nutrient media also : a product of such cultivation

4 : cultivation, tillage We ought to blame the culture, not the soil.— Alexander Pope

5 : the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education

6 : expert care and training beauty culture

culture

verb

cultured; culturing\ ˈkəlch-riŋ

, ˈkəl-chə- \

Definition of culture (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : cultivate

2a : to grow in a prepared medium culture microorganisms

b : to start a culture from (see culture entry 1 sense 3) culture soil

Other Words from culture Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about culture

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Examples of culture in a Sentence

Noun

In this new view, genes allow the human mind to learn, remember, imitate, imprint language, absorb culture and express instincts. — Matt Ridley, Time, 2 June 2003 Such an explanation seems sensible to a technologically advanced and ruthlessly competitive culture like our own, where anybody who fails to get at least a college degree … risks spending a life busing tables or telemarketing. — Natalie Angier, New York Times, 2 July 2002 There is an Arctic Indian tribe, the Gwich'in—the northernmost Indians in the United States—who base their diet and culture on the caribou. — Jimmy Carter, National Geographic Traveler, October 2001 Underlying the question "Is this as good as it gets?" was a female j'accuse—against a consumer culture where values like caring had been severely discounted. — Susan Faludi, Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2001 a study of Greek language and culture Her art shows the influence of pop culture. It's important to learn about other cultures. The company's corporate culture is focused on increasing profits. an area that has been criticized for its lack of culture

Verb

The virus is cultured in the laboratory from samples of infected tissue. culture bacteria in laboratory dishes

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

During the past few months, our company has clearly communicated that our culture is a top priority; this includes the production offices and sets of our shows. — Megan Stein, Country Living, "An 'NCIS: New Orleans' Executive Producer Was Fired From the Show," 3 Feb. 2019 Pop culture has long been fascinated with the Pinkerton story. — Sarah E. Needleman, WSJ, "Pinkerton Detectives Still Exist, and They’re Tired of Being the Bad Guys," 21 Jan. 2019 Reality television is a flat circle, hence why our culture now has a game show in which celebrities in animal costumes serenade Jenny McCarthy. — Amanda Mitchell, Marie Claire, "The Bachelor, Temptation Island, Love Island, and Ex on the Beach: Which Reality Dating Competition Is Right For You?," 7 Jan. 2019 Building a culture of using evidence in government is a long process. — Meagan Neal, Vox, "It’s hard to design good policies. This simple idea can help governments do it.," 21 Dec. 2018 An hour later, 90-degree milk full of starter culture produces lactic acid, starting the conversion to cheese. — Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, "Connected to the Craft," 3 Dec. 2018 Japanese work culture is notorious for a lack of work-life balance; the phenomenon of karoshi, working oneself to death, has been well documented. — Ellen Freeman, Curbed, "I lived in a Tokyo coworking space," 28 Sep. 2018 The Mexico City neighborhood of Cuauhtémoc first became an epicenter for Japanese culture following a wave of immigration at the end of World War II. — Michaela Trimble, Vogue, "An Insider’s Guide to the Little Tokyo of Mexico City," 23 Jan. 2019 Recently, Fury and Crissle have devoted a segment of the podcast to talking about mental health—an important topic that's still considered taboo in many cultures. — Ars Staff, Ars Technica, "A few of our favorite podcasts in 2018, from new to new-to-us," 23 Dec. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The celebratory suds are made with hops grown at Hallowed Hops Farm in Lewistown, saison yeast cultured at Omega Yeast Labs in Chicago and grains familiar to Illinois farmers — corn, wheat, oats and barley. — Lori Rackl, chicagotribune.com, "Bicentennial bucket list: 20 essential Illinois drinks," 29 June 2018 The university cultures some of these dangerous parasites to study them. — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "UCSD steps up fight against tropical parasitical diseases," 4 July 2018 The center includes cell culturing equipment to grow lung cells from patients, to be used for drug screening. — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Vertex Pharmaceuticals opens expanded San Diego research center with focus on cystic fibrosis," 18 June 2018 There’s some confusion over how meat grown by culturing animal cells will be regulated. — Washington Post, "Meat 2.0? Clean meat? Spat shows the power of food wording," 19 June 2018 Thanks to a streamlined hormonal regimen and a simplified device for culturing embryos, an IVF cycle at ABC costs just £2,500, including all tests, medicines, and doctor visits. — Anna Louie Sussman, Bloomberg.com, "Falling Birthrates Call for More Accessible Fertility Treatment," 18 June 2018 They are being used to tackle the sorts of experiments that people once thought would occur on the ISS, including testing artificial gravity or culturing cells and growing protein crystals. — Konstantin Kakaes, Vox, "NASA’s leader wants to privatize the International Space Station. It’s a remarkably terrible idea.," 8 June 2018 The company cultures cord-blood stem cells in nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3, for three weeks before transplant. — Ron Winslow, WSJ, "New Promise for Bone-Marrow Transplants," 28 May 2018 While its lenses were not necessarily more reliable than instruments produced by competitors in England and France, Zeiss’s advertising cultured a belief in the value of standardization for lens quality. — Allain Daigle, The Atlantic, "How the 50-mm Lens Became ‘Normal’," 13 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'culture.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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More Definitions for culture

culture

noun

English Language Learners Definition of culture

(Entry 1 of 2)

: the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time

: a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.

: a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization (such as a business)

culture

verb

English Language Learners Definition of culture (Entry 2 of 2)

technical : to grow (something) in controlled conditions

See the full definition for culture in the English Language Learners Dictionary

culture

noun

cul·ture | \ ˈkəl-chər

Kids Definition of culture

1 : cultivation sense 1

2 : the raising or development (as of a crop or product) by careful attention grape culture

3 : the appreciation and knowledge of the arts (as music, dance, and painting)

4 : the habits, beliefs, and traditions of a particular people, place, or time Greek culture

culture

noun

cul·ture | \ ˈkəl-chər

Medical Definition of culture

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : the integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thought, speech, action, and artifacts and depends upon the human capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations

b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group

2a : the act or process of growing living material (as bacteria or viruses) in prepared nutrient media

b : a product of cultivation in nutrient media

Other Words from culture

cultural \ ˈkəlch(-ə)-rəl

\ adjective

culturally \ -rə-lē

\ adverb

culture

transitive verb

cultured; culturing\ ˈkəlch-(ə-)riŋ

Medical Definition of culture (Entry 2 of 2)