variants
or less commonly Petri dish
plural petri dishes also Petri dishes
1
: a small shallow usually round dish of thin glass or plastic with a loose cover used especially for growing cells or microorganisms on a supportive medium (such as agar combined with nutrients)
… the protein extracted from human cancer cells could stimulate the growth of blood vessels in experiments with chicken embryos and tumor cells growing in petri dishes.—
Tina Hesman
Tina HesmanUnfortunately, most laboratories can diagnose tuberculosis with certainty, or exclude it, only by placing sputum in a petri dish and waiting to see if the bacterium grows …—The New York Times
The New York Times… they found that the compound, sulforaphane, fights cancer in petri dishes.—Doug Levy
Doug Levy2
: something (such as a place or situation) that fosters development
Of course being there for your team tends to contaminate your team. Our radio studio is currently a petri dish of disease.—Matt Heath
Matt Heath"We view universities as a community's most promising petri dish for innovation," said Abby Taubner …—Alex Wittenberg
Alex WittenbergMTV's The Real World, which sends seven attractive young strangers to spend six months turning their luxury housing into a Petri dish of sexual, racial, and interpersonal tension, has been running since 1992.—Francine Prose
Francine ProseExamples of petri dish in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Scientists there isolated a bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa and then tested the strain against 10 different antibiotics in a petri dish.
—Jess Craig, Vox, 1 Oct. 2024
This black hole consists of a petri dish filled with nutrients but with a central hole beneath which flows a stream of fluid that sweeps away any bacteria that enters it.
—The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 17 Sep. 2024
Who would’ve thought The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives would be a petri dish of controversy?
—Sophie Hanson, StyleCaster, 6 Sep. 2024
In an experiment for Science Robotics, researchers used this process to direct fungal tendrils, grown in a petri dish, to activate robots’ motors via attached electrodes.
—Saima S. Iqbal, Scientific American, 25 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for petri dish 
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Jess Craig, Vox, 1 Oct. 2024
This black hole consists of a petri dish filled with nutrients but with a central hole beneath which flows a stream of fluid that sweeps away any bacteria that enters it.
—The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 17 Sep. 2024
Who would’ve thought The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives would be a petri dish of controversy?
—Sophie Hanson, StyleCaster, 6 Sep. 2024
In an experiment for Science Robotics, researchers used this process to direct fungal tendrils, grown in a petri dish, to activate robots’ motors via attached electrodes.
—Saima S. Iqbal, Scientific American, 25 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for petri dish
Dictionary Entries Near petri dish
Cite this Entry
“Petri dish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/petri%20dish. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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