beaker

American  

[bee-ker] / ˈbi kər /

noun

1. a large drinking cup or glass with a wide mouth.

2. contents of a beaker.

   consuming a beaker of beer at one gulp.

3. a flat-bottomed cylindrical container, usually with a pouring lip, especially one used in a laboratory.

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adjective

1. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Beaker folk.

beaker British  

/ ˈbiːkə /

noun

1. a cup usually having a wide mouth

   a plastic beaker

2. a cylindrical flat-bottomed container used in laboratories, usually made of glass and having a pouring lip

3. the amount a beaker holds

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beaker Scientific  

/ bē′kər /

1. A wide, cylindrical glass container with a pouring lip, used especially in laboratories.

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Etymology

Origin of beaker

First recorded in 1300–50; alteration of Middle English biker, from Old Norse bikarr, from Old Saxon bikeri (compare Old High German bechari, German Becher, Dutch beker ), from unattested Latin bic(c)arium, -ius, of uncertain origin. See pitcher ¹

Explanation

A beaker is a glass container with a flat bottom that scientists use to hold liquids. In cartoons, mad scientists sometimes cackle gleefully while pouring bubbling chemicals into beakers. In Britain, a beaker is a drinking cup mainly used by children, but in the U.S. the word is primarily used to mean a cylindrical glass vessel for mixing, measuring, and pouring liquid chemicals. Along with things like Bunsen burners and test tubes, a well-stocked chemistry lab has plenty of beakers. The word comes from the Greek root bikos, "earthenware jug."

Example Sentences

Other students recorded the snake’s behavior while Hayes hooked, pinned, grabbed, and eventually extracted venom from the snake, by compelling it to bite a parafilm-covered beaker.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 3, 2024

They showed that a mixture of molecules would form one of three structures depending on what concentrations of molecules were present in the beaker.

From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2024

According to a now-archived blog post by the university, after an hour, "all that remained in the beaker was a pair of brown carnauba wax eyes floating in a purple Phenol soup."

From Salon • Feb. 2, 2023

If you prefer fatty bacon, the beaker can accommodate that.

From Washington Post • Jan. 13, 2023

I took the beaker from him and poured the contents through a gauze sieve into one of Mother’s empty Lydia Pinkham’s bottles.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

Related Words

• chalice