Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A stain of a contrasting color used to color the components in a microscopic specimen that are not made visible by the principal stain.
  • transitive verb To color (a microscopic specimen) with such a stain.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun microscopy A stain contrasting with the principal stain in color, thus making the stained structure easier to see
  • verb microscopy To stain with a counterstain

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a stain of contrasting color that is used when the principal stain does not show the structure clearly

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

counter- +‎ stain

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