plate

plate definition - medical

plate (plāt)

noun
  1. A smooth, flat, relatively thin, rigid body of uniform thickness.
  2. A thin flat layer, part, or structure.
  3. A thin metallic or plastic support fitted to the gums to anchor artificial teeth.
  4. A metal bar applied to a fractured bone in order to maintain the ends in apposition.
  5. The agar layer within a Petri dish or similar vessel.
  6. A sheet of glass or metal that is light-sensitive and on which a photographic image can be recorded.
verb
To form a very thin layer of a bacterial culture by streaking it on the surface of agar to isolate individual organisms from which a colonial clone will develop.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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