incubation

n. 1. The period or process of keeping eggs within the environmental conditions which allow the development and hatching of live organisms. 2. The period or process of growing a culture of microorganisms. 3. The period or process of keeping a premature or other at-risk infant alive until sufficient growth occurs to allow the infant to survive without continuous intervention. 4. The period in which an idea or problem is processed without attention. 5. The period between initial infection and the appearance of symptoms in a disease.