SINCE 1828
petri dish
noun
pe·tri dish
| \ ˈpē-trē-
\
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Definition of petri dish
1
: a small shallow dish of thin glass or plastic with a loose cover used especially for cultures in bacteriology
2
: something (such as a place or situation) that fosters development or innovation
the college was a petri dish for radical views
Examples of petri dish in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The embryos were grown in a petri dish in a process meant to mimic the embryo’s implantation in the uterus. — Amy Dockser Marcus, WSJ, "Gene-Editing Technique in Human Embryos Draws Skepticism," 8 Aug. 2018 Cells that would die in a petri dish stayed alive for a standard 28-day reproductive cycle. — Dina Fine Maron, Scientific American, "Menstrual Cycle “on a Chip” Offers a New Window into Female Physiology," 1 June 2017 Step 4 In a process called insemination, the sperm and eggs are placed together in a petri dish and stored that way to facilitate fertilization. — Jennifer Gerson, Marie Claire, "Health & Fitness," 1 Oct. 2018 This new egg is fertilized by the father’s sperm via intracytoplasmic sperm injection, a technique that’s similar to IVF, except the sperm is directly injected into an egg rather than entering the cell on its own in a petri dish. — Radhika Viswanathan, Vox, "3 biological parents, 1 child, and an international controversy," 24 July 2018 So many other items hanging oh-so-innocuously around the house turn out to be little more than petri dishes for germs. — Ana Veciana-suarez, miamiherald, "A simple Google search turned me into a germophobe," 2 July 2018 Like mutant cells in a petri dish, mock galaxies grew all wrong, becoming excessively starry blobs instead of gently rotating spirals. — Natalie Wolchover, WIRED, "The Universe Is Not a Simulation, but We Can Now Simulate It," 16 June 2018 Emoji 11 takes some science-minded strides, with glyphs for goggles, a lab coat, a test tube, a petri dish, and DNA. — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, "Behold, the 157 new emoji for 2018," 8 Feb. 2018 There are a few possibilities for what this future technology will look like, from genetic modification of existing organs to brand new organs grown in test tubes and petri dishes. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "This Patch of 3D-Printed Flesh Is a Step Toward a Full 3D-Printed Heart," 3 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'petri dish.' 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 petri dish
petri dish
noun
pe·tri dish
| \ ˈpē-trē-
\
\
Medical Definition of petri dish
: a small shallow dish of thin glass or plastic with a loose cover used especially for cultures in bacteriology
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