subculture

plural subcultures · alternative clipping subcul

1. A portion of a culture distinguished by its customs or other features, often in contrast to the larger mainstream culture.

   The goth subculture has its own mode of dress, and it has a characteristic musical style.

   4 more examples

   Like those activities, bodybuilding is an obsession, a living (for a few), and a way of life for the people involved in it—a subculture, in a word, with its own values, aesthetics and vocabulary.

   1974, Charles Gaines, George Butler, Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding, page 7

   Joybubbles (the legal name of the former Joe Engressia since 1991), a blind genius with perfect pitch who accidentally found he could make free phone calls by whistling tones and went on to play a pivotal role in the 1970s subculture of “phone phreaks,” died on Aug. 8 in Minneapolis.

   2007 August 20, Douglas Martin, “Joybubbles, 58, Peter Pan of Phone Hackers, Dies”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2022

   White Americans are transitioning toward minority status for the first time. As they do, perhaps their ways will be treated less as the default mainstream, and more as subcultures among subcultures.

   2014 November 24, Anand Giridharadas, “How to Talk About Race Without Talking About Race”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2021

   White evangelicals once saw themselves “as the owners of mainstream American culture and morality and values,” said Jones. Now they are just another subculture.

   2021 July 9, Michelle Goldberg, “The Christian Right Is in Decline, and It’s Taking America With It”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 10 Jul 2021

2. biologyA culture made by transferring microorganisms from a previous culture to a fresh growth medium

present singular third person subcultures · participle present subculturing · participle past subcultured · past subcultured · alternative clipping subcul

1. biologyTo transfer (microorganisms) to a fresh growth medium in order to start a new culture

   Cultures were subcultured by 20-fold dilution into fresh MS2D medium approximately every 7 d.

   1990, Heidi F. Kaeppler et al., “Silicon carbide fiber-mediated DNA delivery into plant cells”, in Plant Cell Reports, volume 9, number 8