|  Gram stain 
 
 a staining technique used to classify bacteria;
 bacteria are stained with gentian violet and then treated with Gram's solution;
 after being decolorized with alcohol and treated with safranine and washed in water, those that retain the gentian violet are Gram-positive and those that do not retain it are Gram-negative
 • Syn:
 Gram's method, Gram method, Gram's procedure, Gram's stain
 • Hypernyms:
 staining
 
 
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