petri dish
Definition
- Noun:
- A shallow, circular, transparent dish with a flat lid, used in laboratories to culture microorganisms, such as bacteria or cells, on a growth medium (like agar).
Usage
- The primary use of a petri dish is in scientific research, particularly in microbiology, to grow and study microorganisms.
- It is a standard piece of laboratory equipment for isolating bacterial colonies, testing antibiotic sensitivity, or observing fungal growth.
Examples
- Noun:
- The scientist placed the sample in a petri dish containing nutrient agar.
- After incubation, several bacterial colonies were visible in the petri dish.
Advanced Usage
- Metaphorical Use: In broader contexts, "petri dish" can metaphorically describe an environment or situation that fosters rapid development, experimentation, or proliferation, often of ideas, trends, or social phenomena.
- The city's vibrant arts district became a petri dish for new musical genres.
- The online forum was a petri dish of conspiracy theories.
Variants and Related Words
- Culture dish: A more general synonym for a dish used to grow biological cultures.
- Agar plate: A specific term for a petri dish filled with a solidified agar-based growth medium.
Synonyms
- Culture plate
- Biological dish
Notes
- The term is named after the German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri, who invented it in the late 19th century.
- It is almost always used in the context of biological or medical science, though its metaphorical use is increasingly common in social and cultural commentary.
Noun
-
a shallow dish used to culture bacteria
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