Definition of "tuberculin" [tu•ber•cu•lin]

• A sterile liquid containing proteins extracted from cultures of tubercle bacilli and used in tests for tuberculosis. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Mantoux expanded upon Pirquet's ideas and the Mantoux test, in which tuberculin is injected under the skin, became a diagnostic test for tuberculosis in 1907."
• "Koch bacillus produces preparatory substances which are not to be found in tuberculin."
• "There is also a substance called tuberculin, which, when injected under the skin in suspected cases of consumption causes a rise of temperature in persons suffering from the disease, but has no effect on the healthy."