cul·ture (k?l?ch?r)n.1. a. The arts, beliefs, customs, institutions, and other products of human work and thought considered as a unit, especially with regard to a particular time or social group: Edwardian culture; Japanese culture.b. These arts, beliefs, and other products considered with respect to a particular subject or mode of expression: musical culture; oral culture.c. The set of predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize a group or organization: a manager who changed the corporate culture.2. Mental refinement and sophisticated taste resulting from the appreciation of the arts and sciences: a woman of great culture.3. Special training and development: voice culture for singers and actors.4. The cultivation of soil; tillage: the culture of the soil.5. The breeding or cultivation of animals or plants for food, the improvement of stock, or other purposes.6. Biology a. The growing of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium.b. Such a growth or colony, as of bacteria.tr.v. cul·tured, cul·tur·ing, cul·tures 1. To cultivate (soil or plants).2. a. To grow (microorganisms or other living matter) in a specially prepared nutrient medium.b. To use (a substance) as a medium for culture: culture milk.[Middle English, cultivation, from Old French, from Latin cult?ra, from cultus, past participle of colere; see cultivate.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.culture (?k?lt??) n1. (Sociology) the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action2. (Anthropology & Ethnology) the total range of activities and ideas of a group of people with shared traditions, which are transmitted and reinforced by members of the group: the Mayan culture. 3. (Anthropology & Ethnology) a particular civilization at a particular period4. (Art Terms) the artistic and social pursuits, expression, and tastes valued by a society or class, as in the arts, manners, dress, etc5. the enlightenment or refinement resulting from these pursuits6. (Sociology) the attitudes, feelings, values, and behaviour that characterize and inform society as a whole or any social group within it: yob culture. 7. (Agriculture) the cultivation of plants, esp by scientific methods designed to improve stock or to produce new ones8. (Breeds) stockbreeding the rearing and breeding of animals, esp with a view to improving the strain9. (Agriculture) the act or practice of tilling or cultivating the soil10. (Microbiology) biology a. the experimental growth of microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, in a nutrient substance (culture medium), usually under controlled conditions. See also culture mediumb. a group of microorganisms grown in this wayvb (tr) 11. (Agriculture) to cultivate (plants or animals)12. (Microbiology) to grow (microorganisms) in a culture medium[C15: from Old French, from Latin cult?ra a cultivating, from colere to till; see cult] ?culturist n ?cultureless adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014cul?ture (?k?l t??r) n., v. -tured, -tur?ing. n. 1. artistic and intellectual pursuits and products. 2. a quality of enlightenment or refinement arising from an acquaintance with and concern for what is regarded as excellent in the arts, letters, manners, etc. 3. development or improvement of the mind by education or training. 4. the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another. 5. a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a nation or period: Greek culture. 6. the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: youth culture; the drug culture. 7. a. the cultivation of microorganisms or tissues for scientific study, medicinal use, etc. b. the product or growth resulting from such cultivation. 8. the act or practice of cultivating the soil. 9. the raising of plants or animals, esp. with a view to their improvement. v.t. 10. to subject to culture; cultivate. 11. a. to grow (microorganisms, tissues, etc.) in or on a controlled or defined medium. b. to introduce (living material) into a culture medium. [1400?50; (