test tube

¹

noun

1. a hollow cylinder of thin glass with one end closed, used in chemical and biological experimentation and analysis.

test-tube

²

[ test-toob, -tyoob ]

adjective

1. produced in or as if in a test tube; synthetic or experimental.

test tube

noun

1. a cylindrical round-bottomed glass tube open at one end: used in scientific experiments
2. modifier made synthetically in, or as if in, a test tube

   a test-tube product

test tube

/ tĕst /

1. A cylindrical tube of clear glass, usually open at one end and rounded at the other, used as a container for small amounts of a substance in laboratory tests and experiments.

Word History and Origins

Origin of test tube¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Origin of test tube²

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

They used a method they published last year, which involves screening a library of AAVs in a test tube for ones that bind to a specific human protein.

From Science Daily

These insoluble proteins from aged animals, when mixed with amyloid beta in the test tube, accelerate the aggregation of the amyloid.

From Science Daily

The rover inserts the samples in containers the size of test tubes.

From Salon

The researchers painstakingly removed each drowned flea using tweezers, set them to dry on absorbent paper, and then transferred them to test tubes for laboratory identification and analyses.

From Science Daily

Daniel Perez, an influenza researcher at the University of Georgia, is doing his own test tube study of pasteurization of milk spiked with a different avian influenza virus.

From Science Magazine