petri dish
noun
pe·tri dish
| \ ˈpē-trē-
\
\
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
Called LifeSupport, the gel-like material is placed in a petri dish, and the printer’s needle creates a three-dimensional structure in the gel. — Craig Young, The Denver Post, "Loveland-made 3D printers could eventually help build human organs," 12 June 2019 Helicopter parenting, along with high expectations and a societal repugnance to the possibility of failure, contributes to what American high schools have become: petri dishes of high stress and exhaustion. — Zach Schermele, Teen Vogue, "Helicopter Parenting Is Usually More Subtle Than Paying for Kids to Get Into School," 22 Mar. 2019 At a small, underfunded college nearby, the chairman of the chemistry department has to make the rounds at local high schools to collect unused beakers and petri dishes. — Allen C. Guelzo, WSJ, "America’s Disappearing Private Colleges," 21 Feb. 2019 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 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 2018 Like mutant cells in a petri dish, mock galaxies grew all wrong, becoming excessively starry blobs instead of gently rotating spirals. — Quanta Magazine, "The Universe Is Not a Simulation, but We Can Now Simulate It," 12 June 2018 One option calls for taking the frozen sperm and using it to fertilize rhino eggs in a petri dish. — Alessandra Potenza, The Verge, "Inside the high-tech plot to save the northern white rhino from extinction," 6 Apr. 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.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
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