cultures

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of culture.

   The exhibit compares burial customs across several ancient cultures.

   The lab stored the bacterial cultures in a refrigerated incubator overnight.

   Note

   A regular -s plural that only the countable uses of culture can take. Ancient cultures are distinct societies, each with its own customs, and bacterial cultures are separate batches grown in a medium. When culture means the arts or cultivation in general, it stays uncountable: a patron of culture, not of cultures. The same spelling also serves the verb form, as when a lab cultures a sample.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of culture.

   The hospital lab cultures each sample to identify the infection.

   Every spring, the brewery cultures its own yeast strains for the season.

   Note

   Here the spelling belongs to a transitive verb, so it always needs an object: a lab cultures a sample, a brewery cultures its yeast. The verb's main meaning is growing bacteria or other organisms in conditions suited to growth. It can also mean fostering artistic or scientific interest in something. For both meanings, cultivate is the close comparison, and it is the more familiar word outside the laboratory.

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