laboratory

American  

[lab-ruh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, lab-er-uh-, luh-bor-uh-tuh-ree, -uh-tree] / ˈlæb rəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i, ˈlæb ər ə-, ləˈbɒr ə tə ri, -ə tri /

noun

laboratories plural

1. a building, part of a building, or other place equipped to conduct scientific experiments, tests, investigations, etc., or to manufacture chemicals, medicines, or the like.

2. any place, situation, set of conditions, or the like, conducive to experimentation, investigation, observation, etc.; anything suggestive of a scientific laboratory.

---

adjective

1. serving a function in a laboratory.

2. relating to techniques of work in a laboratory.

   laboratory methods; laboratory research.

laboratory British  

/ -trɪ, ləˈbɒrətərɪ, ˈlæbrəˌtɔːrɪ /

noun

1. 1. a building or room equipped for conducting scientific research or for teaching practical science

   2. ( as modifier )

      laboratory equipment

2. a place where chemicals or medicines are manufactured

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• laboratorially
  adverb
• laboratorial
  adjective
• interlaboratory
  adjective
• laboratorian
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• laboratories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of laboratory

1595–1605; < Medieval Latin labōrātōrium workshop, equivalent to Latin labōrā ( re ) to labor + -tōrium -tory ²

Explanation

A laboratory is a place where experiments happen, usually scientific experiments involving chemicals and lab coats, but there are creative and athletic laboratories too, where people experiment with writing and footballs. When you think of a laboratory, you might see men and women wearing face masks pouring colorful liquids into test tubes, and you’d be correct. Any place that is a testing ground for new ideas is a laboratory, like a class full of people thinking up new ways to make paper airplanes. The Latin verb laborare means “to labor,” so remember that a laboratory is a place of hard work: you can’t spell laboratory without labor in it.

Example Sentences

After Roscosmos paused the repair effort, Crew-12 and Williams ended their safe haven activities and returned to normal operations aboard the orbiting laboratory.

From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026

ALBANY, N.Y.—Neuroscientist Annalisa Scimemi is in her element at her laboratory, where she works with mice and sophisticated instruments to better understand brain cells.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

The real test, he says, is what happens in the human trials as our immune systems are different to laboratory mice as ours have been shaped by years of infections.

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026

Volunteers surreptitiously carried blood samples out of Mambasa for testing at a government laboratory.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026

The Americas were a great laboratory of evolutionary experimentation, a place where animals and plants unknown in Africa and Asia had evolved and thrived.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Related Words

• lab
• workshop