incubator
American Heritage Dictionary:
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in·cu·ba·tor
(ĭn'kyə-bā'tər, ĭng'-) 
n.
n.
- An apparatus in which environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, can be controlled, often used for growing bacterial cultures, hatching eggs artificially, or providing suitable conditions for a chemical or biological reaction.
- Medicine. An apparatus for maintaining an infant, especially a premature infant, in an environment of controlled temperature, humidity, and oxygen concentration.
- A place or situation that permits or encourages the formation and development, as of new ideas: a college that was an incubator of new approaches to sociology.
Fowler's Modern English Usage:
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incubator
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia:
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incubator
An organization that fosters the growth of new ideas or companies. An incubator generally acquires small companies and provides them with financing, management expertise, office services and possibly office space. Incubators may adopt a think tank approach and look for synergies between the ideas, products and technologies they are developing in order to grow faster. Many Internet incubators arose in the latter 1990s with the intention of creating more dot-com success stories.
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Barron's Business Dictionary:
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incubator
Facility that provides small entrepreneurial businesses with affordable space, shared support, and business development ser- vices such as financing, marketing, and management. Incubators play an important role in helping young businesses survive and grow during the startup period, when they are most financially vulnerable.
| Incremental Spending, Incremental Cash Flow, Incremental Analysis | |
| Incurable Depreciation, Indemnify, Indemnity |
Columbia Encyclopedia:
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incubator
incubator, apparatus for the maintenance of controlled conditions in which eggs can be hatched artificially. Incubator houses with double walls of mud, a fireroom, and several compartments each holding about 6,000 hens' eggs were developed in ancient times; the Chinese have long used baskets with a capacity of about 5,000 eggs that are alternated with layers of heated wheat. In the United States small incubators were developed in the 1840s and large ones have been used since 1910; some commercial models have trays for as many as one million eggs. The modern apparatus, with computer-controlled temperature and humidity and devices for turning the eggs, is widely used in commercial chick production. Eggs are selected for size, weight, and shell texture and often are candled after a week in the incubator in order to remove infertile eggs. The small-scale apparatus for hatching eggs inspired the invention of incubators for prematurely born human infants, whose lives are often saved in an environment of controlled heat, humidity, and ventilation. Another type of incubator has been developed for the culture of microorganisms.
Bibliography
See R. E. Austic and M. C. Nesheim, Poultry Production (13th ed. 1990); M. North, Commercial Chicken Production (1990).
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Health:
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incubator
A specialized crib used in caring for infants, in which the temperature and oxygen content of the air can be controlled. Often, babies who are born prematurely will be placed in an incubator until they have become strong enough to be housed in a regular crib.
Word Tutor:
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incubator
IN BRIEF: A container that is kept warm for hatching eggs; a container to keep babies who are born too soon warm and protected.
In the incubator, the eggs hatched into cute ducklings.
LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!
Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry:
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incubator
any closable, heat-insulated cabinet that is maintained at a constant internal temperature (and, sometimes, humidity and/or atmosphere) and that is used for the growth or maintenance of cells, cultures, tissues, or organisms, or for the hatching of eggs.
| incubation period, incubation mixture, incubate | |
| indel, index, indican |
Saunders Veterinary Dictionary:
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incubator
An apparatus for maintaining optimal conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.) for growth and development, especially one used for cultures, and for hatching eggs.
Mosby's Dental Dictionary:
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incubator
(in'kyōōbātur)
n
n
A laboratory container with controlled temperature for the cultivation of bacteria.
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'incubator'
- Tools, Machinery, and Structures - incubator: enclosed, warm environment for keeping and hatching eggs
Translations:
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Incubator
Dansk (Danish)
n. - kuvøse, rugemaskine, udklækningsmaskine, varmeskab
Nederlands (Dutch)
couveuse, kweekkamer, broedmachine, incubator
Français (French)
n. - couveuse, incubateur
Deutsch (German)
n. - Brutkasten, Inkubator, Brutapparat
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εκκολαπτήριο, εκκολαπτική μηχανή, κλωσομηχανή
Italiano (Italian)
incubatrice
Português (Portuguese)
n. - incubadora (f)
Español (Spanish)
n. - incubadora
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - äggkläckningsmaskin, kuvös, apparat för odling av bakterier
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
孵卵器, 早产儿保育器, 细菌培养器
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 孵卵器, 早產兒保育器, 細菌培養器
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 부화기, 세균 배양기, 조산아 보육기
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ふ卵器, 保育器, 未熟児保育器
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) طير حاضن, جهاز حضانه
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Computer Desktop Encyclopedia
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All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
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Barron's Business Dictionary
Dictionary of Business Terms. Copyright © 2007 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Health
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and
James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry
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Saunders Veterinary Dictionary
Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.
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Mosby's Dental Dictionary
Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
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