noun
vial
VEYE-uhl
noun
1
A small glass or plastic container, often tube-shaped, used to hold liquids such as medicine or perfume.
"The nurse drew the vaccine from a small glass vial."
"She kept a vial of perfume in her handbag."
How to Use Vial
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA small bottle, usually for liquid medicine or similar substances.
Easily confused with
phial
Common pairings
a vial of blood
vial of medicine
Word Forms
vialed past tense, vialled past tense, vials plural, Vials plural, vials singular
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The nurse drew the vaccine from a small glass _____.
Etymology
From Middle English vial, a variant of "phial" — both trace back to the same Greek-derived word for a small flask.