gram-negative

1. 1.

   (of bacteria) being of or relating to a bacterium that does not retain the violet stain used in Gram's method

   Similarnegative

   bacteria

Questions about gram-negative

What does gram-negative mean?

gram-negative means "(of bacteria) being of or relating to a bacterium that does not retain the violet stain used in Gram's method".

How many syllables are in gram-negative?

gram-negative has 4 syllables: gram--ne-ga-tive. The stress falls on "ne".

Is gram-negative a common word?

gram-negative is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.