incubator

UK: /ˈɪnkjʊbeɪtə^r/

US: /ˈɪnkjəˌbeɪtɚ, ˈɪŋ-/

US: (in′kyə bā′tər, ing′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

in•cu•ba•tor /ˈɪnkyəˌbeɪtɚ, ˈɪŋ-/   n. [countable]

1. Agriculture an apparatus for incubation.
2. Medicine an apparatus in which prematurely born infants are cared for.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

in•cu•ba•tor  (in′kyə bā′tər, ing′-), n. 

1. Agriculture an apparatus in which eggs are hatched artificially.
2. Medicine an enclosed apparatus in which prematurely born infants are kept in controlled conditions, as of temperature, for protection and care.
3. Laboratory an apparatus in which media inoculated with microorganisms are cultivated at a constant temperature.
4. a person or thing that incubates.

• Late Latin: literally, one who lies in or upon (something). See incubate, -tor
• 1855–60

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

incubator / ˈɪnkjʊˌbeɪtə/ noun

1. an enclosed transparent boxlike apparatus for housing prematurely born babies under optimum conditions until they are strong enough to survive in the normal environment
2. a container kept at a constant temperature in which birds' eggs can be artificially hatched or bacterial cultures grown
3. a person, animal, or thing that incubates