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test tube

test tube

18 2.8
A small glass tube closed at one end used in labs to hold, heat, or mix liquids
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛst tuːb/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tubo de ensayo
  • The scientist carefully poured the chemical into the test tube to avoid any spills.
  • a test tube baby
  • test tube contained
  • labeled test tube

And it also makes sense if you ask, let's imagine you have a test tube with a million bacteria.

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Examples

  • Samples can be processed in test tubes and kept cold during treatment by immersion in an ice bath.

    Academic text (1996)
  • So not every plasmid in your test tube is going to have the right gene inserted in the right way.

  • - Take three drops from the test tube on the left.

  • Did you clean all the bottles and test tubes in the laboratory?

  • So let's split this into two test tubes here, but let's add some iron drops to this.

  • McClintock places the test tube into a clear plexiglass container.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • A small piece of Neanderthal bone is drilled out and dissolved into a test-tube solution.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Here's yeast growing in a test tube, and this is now haploid yeast.

  • She placed the test tube in the heating rack to mix the solution thoroughly.

  • In chemistry class, we learned how to use a test tube for experiments with liquid substances.

Synonyms

tube
vstest tube
680 2.0

A long hollow thing like a pipe that carries liquids or gases, sometimes inside the body

is a small closed laboratory vessel for holding, heating, and mixing chemicals
glass tube
vstest tube
  • Specialized
3 2.9

A thin round container made of glass used in a lab to hold liquids

is a small closed-end laboratory vessel used for heating and mixing chemicals

How Big

carboy
  • Specialized
1 9.4
Erlenmeyer flask
  • Specialized
1 5.1
beaker
  • Specialized
13 3.7
test tube
  • Specialized
18 2.8
micropipette
  • Specialized
7.1

Surface Forms

test tube singular
test tubes plural

Morphology

test + tube

The meaning 'a small glass tube used in laboratories' is directly deducible from combining 'test' (an activity to check or examine) with 'tube' (a hollow cylinder) — literally a tube used for tests/experiments. This noun–noun compounding is a regular, transparent pattern in English (and has clear parallels in other languages), so a B1 learner knowing both constituents should comprehend the MWE.

Etymology

Test tube comes from the simple image of a small glass tube used for a test in a lab. So today it means 'a small glass tube used in experiments'.