🧫 Petri Dish Emoji — Meaning, Copy & Paste, Codes

01 — Meaning

What does the 🧫 Petri Dish emoji mean?

In plain english

Generally, when someone sends you the 🧫 emoji, they’re just referencing the image itself. It’s a visual shorthand for a lab, experiment, or scientific concept. It doesn’t usually have a super deep meaning beyond that. 🧫 sits in object emojis, where it is listed next to everything used the same way. It also turns up in pink emojis.

Where it comes from

The 🧫 emoji is a petri dish. It’s mostly used to represent science, labs, or experiments. People use it when talking about biology, research, or anything related to growing bacteria or cultures. It can also be used playfully to suggest something is developing, like a project or a relationship.

Also known as

One character, many names — these are the wordings people actually type, all 7 of them.

bacteria emojibiologist emojibiology emojiculture emojidish emojilab emojipetri emoji

People also look for it as biology emoji.

02 — Platforms

Petri Dish emoji on iPhone, Android, WhatsApp and X

Same code on both ends, different drawing on each screen — here is the petri dish as 9 vendors ship it.

AppleiPhone, iPad, macOS

GoogleAndroid, Gmail, Chrome

Twitter / XX, Discord, Twemoji apps

FacebookFacebook, Messenger

OpenMojiOpen-source, design systems

SamsungGalaxy, One UI

MicrosoftWindows, Teams, Fluent

WhatsAppWhatsApp on Android

JoyPixelsSlack, Discord themes

See the whole set the way each system draws it — iPhone emojis, Android emojis, WhatsApp emojis and Discord emojis.

03 — Copy & codes

Petri Dish emoji copy and paste

Everything here is the same character in different notation — including the shortcode chat apps know it by, :petri_dish:.

All emoji copy and paste →

In your code

Escapes for the languages people actually paste this into. Every one of them produces the same character, and that character is U+1F9EB.

04 — How to type

How to type the 🧫 Petri Dish emoji

No picker to hand? The petri dish can be typed straight from the keyboard — the codes for that are below, one per system.

iPhone & iPad

Tap the smiley or globe key at the bottom-left of the keyboard, then search “petri dish”. No emoji key? Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard → Emoji.

Android

On Gboard tap the smiley key, or long-press the Enter or comma key. On Samsung Keyboard the emoji button sits behind the gear icon.

Windows & Mac

Windows: press Win + . for the emoji panel. Mac: Control + Command + Space. Then type “petri dish”.

Slack & Discord

Type the shortcode :petri_dish: and it converts to 🧫 as you send. The full set is on the Discord emoji page.

Websites & code

In HTML use 🧫, in CSS \1F9EB, in JavaScript \u{1F9EB}.

No picker to hand? The online emoji keyboard works in any browser, and every character on the site is listed on emoji copy and paste.

05 — Download

Petri Dish emoji PNG and SVG

Transparent PNG and SVG for thumbnails, decks and design files — one file per vendor, which makes 9. Artwork belongs to whoever drew it, so check the licence before commercial use.

Emoji PNG library →

Apple PNG · 160px

Google PNG · 160px

Twitter / X SVG vector

Facebook PNG · 64px

OpenMoji SVG vector

Samsung PNG · 64px

Microsoft PNG · 64px

WhatsApp PNG · 64px

JoyPixels PNG · 64px

06 — Combinations

Petri Dish emoji combinations

Ready-made combos built around petri dish for bios, captions and comments. Tap to copy.

All combinations →

Cool petri dish combos

Flex petri dish combos

Aesthetic petri dish combos

Cute petri dish combos

Dark petri dish combos

Party petri dish combos

Love petri dish combos

Mood petri dish combos

Unhinged petri dish combos

Soft petri dish combos

Late night petri dish combos

Summer petri dish combos

Gaming petri dish combos

Y2K petri dish combos

Want two emojis fused into one sticker instead of set side by side? Emoji Kitchen does that for every pair Google has drawn, and there are more ready-made pairs in emoji combinations and aesthetic emoji combos.

07 — In conversation

What 🧫 means from a girl or a guy

Same emoji, different intent depending on who sent it and what came before.

From a girl

If a girl sends you the 🧫 emoji, she might be playfully referencing something growing – like a crush or a connection between you two. Sometimes, she’s just making a silly observation about something being developed. Don't overthink it!

From a guy

If a guy sends you the 🧫 emoji, it’s probably just a reference to science or experimentation. It’s often used in a lighthearted way, showing interest in a topic or just being a bit quirky. Like a girl, don’t read too much into it.

How to reply

You could reply with: “Let’s run some tests! 🧪”, “That’s fascinating! 🧐”, “I’m on board! 🚀”, or “Growing on you! 😉”.

Used in a sentence

08 — Apps

What 🧫 means on TikTok, WhatsApp and Discord

The character is the same everywhere, but the artwork and the reading of it change from app to app.

TikTok & Instagram

Generally, when someone sends you the 🧫 emoji, they’re just referencing the image itself. It’s a visual shorthand for a lab, experiment, or scientific concept. In comments and captions it is read the same way — the tone comes from what it sits next to.

WhatsApp draws 🧫 with Apple-style artwork on every phone, so it looks identical for both sides. A message with only 🧫 in it is shown enlarged.

Discord & Slack

Both accept the shortcode :petri_dish:. Discord renders Twemoji, so 🧫 looks different there than on your phone.

Outlook & email

Outlook has no emoji picker on desktop — press Win + . or Control + Command + Space inside the message body, or paste 🧫 from the copy button above.

09 — Related

Emojis similar to the Petri Dish emoji

Same family (science) — often confused with petri dish or used alongside it.

Objects →

📡Satellite Antenna ⚗️Alembic 🔭Telescope 🔬Microscope 🧬Dna 🧪Test Tube 🩸Drop Of Blood 🪭Folding Hand Fan 👓Glasses 🕶️Sunglasses 🥽Goggles 🥼Lab Coat

Collections 🧫 belongs to — every one of them is a different way people go looking for it:

object emojis pink emojis

10 — History

Where the 🧫 Petri Dish emoji came from

It arrived with the 11.0 release of the standard, which dates the petri dish to 2018.

AppleiOS

Petri Dish emoji, Apple, iOS 18.4 — iOS 18.4

Petri Dish emoji, Apple, iOS 26 — iOS 26

GoogleAndroid

Twitter / XTwemoji

Petri Dish emoji, Twitter / X, Twemoji 16 — Twemoji 16

Petri Dish emoji, Twitter / X, Twemoji 17 — Twemoji 17

Same character every time — U+1F9EB never changed. Only the drawing did, and only because each vendor redraws its own set. Someone on an older phone still sees the older picture.

2018

Added to the standard

Petri Dish was approved as U+1F9EB and shipped in Emoji 11.0 (2018). Phones usually get new artwork about a year after approval, in a system update.

Today

Drawn 9 different ways

Every vendor keeps its own artwork, so 🧫 is redrawn by Apple, Google, Twitter / X, Facebook, OpenMoji, Samsung, Microsoft, WhatsApp, JoyPixels. The character you send never changes — only the picture does.

11 — FAQ

Petri Dish emoji — questions people actually ask

What does the 🧫 Petri Dish emoji mean?

Generally, when someone sends you the 🧫 emoji, they’re just referencing the image itself. It’s a visual shorthand for a lab, experiment, or scientific concept. It doesn’t usually have a super deep meaning beyond that.

What does 🧫 mean from a girl?

If a girl sends you the 🧫 emoji, she might be playfully referencing something growing – like a crush or a connection between you two. Sometimes, she’s just making a silly observation about something being developed. Don't overthink it!

What does 🧫 mean from a guy?

If a guy sends you the 🧫 emoji, it’s probably just a reference to science or experimentation. It’s often used in a lighthearted way, showing interest in a topic or just being a bit quirky. Like a girl, don’t read too much into it.

How do you reply to the 🧫 emoji?

You could reply with: “Let’s run some tests! 🧪”, “That’s fascinating! 🧐”, “I’m on board! 🚀”, or “Growing on you! 😉”.

What else is the 🧫 emoji called?

Petri Dish is the official Unicode name, but people search for it as “bacteria emoji”, “biologist emoji”, “biology emoji”, “culture emoji”, “dish emoji”, “lab emoji” and more. They all refer to the same character, U+1F9EB.

What is the Unicode code for 🧫?

The Petri Dish emoji is U+1F9EB, added in Emoji 11.0 (2018). In HTML you can write it as 🧫, and in CSS as \1F9EB.

How do I copy and paste the 🧫 emoji?

Tap the copy button at the top of this page — 🧫 goes straight to your clipboard and pastes into Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, Discord or any text field. You can also copy its shortcode :petri_dish: for Slack and Discord.

Does 🧫 look the same on every phone?

No. Petri Dish is drawn separately by each vendor — Apple, Google, Twitter / X, Facebook, OpenMoji, Samsung, Microsoft, WhatsApp and JoyPixels all ship their own artwork for U+1F9EB. The character you send is identical; only the picture changes.

🧫Petri Dish Emoji

In your code