technique

American  

[tek-neek] / tɛkˈnik /

noun

• techniques
  plural

1. the manner and ability with which an artist, writer, dancer, athlete, or the like employs the technical skills of a particular art or field of endeavor.

2. the body of specialized procedures and methods used in any specific field, especially in an area of applied science.

3. method of performance; way of accomplishing.

4. technical skill; ability to apply procedures or methods so as to effect a desired result.

5. Informal. method of projecting personal charm, appeal, etc..

   He has the greatest technique with customers.

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technique British  

/ tɛkˈniːk /

noun

1. a practical method, skill, or art applied to a particular task

2. proficiency in a practical or mechanical skill

3. special facility; knack

   he had the technique of turning everything to his advantage

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• techniques
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of technique

First recorded in 1810–20; from French: “technical” (adjective), “technic” (noun), from Greek technikós, techniká; see technic

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Explanation

A technique is a method of doing some task or performing something. Your technique for opening drinks might be to twist the top off with your teeth. If so, your dentist better have a good tooth-repair technique. The noun technique can also refer to someone's skillfulness with the fundamentals of a particular task. A violinist could have excellent technique, but lack passion, for example. Writers usually have very individual writing techniques: One might need to write late at night and another early in the morning; some have to write by hand on paper, while others always use the computer.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

technique techniques

Another technique is to hang rubber tires from the deck to protect the engine and rudder, a crude way of stopping a drone from crashing into a ship and disabling it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

After conventional tests failed, the researchers tried a technique called Spacer-seq, which had previously been developed in Shipman's laboratory.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026

This more sophisticated sampling technique reduces the minimum distance required for the 2-approximation guarantee to hold, without increasing the algorithm's overall computational complexity.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026

Paladin collaborates with Critical Materials Recycling, a Boone, Iowa-based venture scaling an innovative leaching technique pioneered at Ames National Laboratory to reclaim virtually all rare earths from electronic waste.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

His new technique of sfumato blurs everything together, the way smoke dissolves into air.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

This is a guy who incorporated poetic techniques into the songwriting experience and came up with a new folk music.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

Backlash against AI imagery everywhere from major ad campaigns to local shawarma stands is driving demand for high-touch techniques like claymation and hand-drawn animation, filmmakers say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Similar techniques might eventually help simulate aspects of black holes or distinguish between competing explanations of how time emerges.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026

Then she instructs them in stitching techniques inspired by the traditional Japanese methods Boro and Sashiko.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Katya died like a true Soviet fighter pilot, first filling an enemy fighter with bullets before using expert flight techniques to put out the flames that were engulfing her own plane.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

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Related Words

• approach
• art
• capability
• capacity
• craft
• facility
• know-how
• manner
• means
• mode
• performance
• procedure
• routine
• skill
• style
• system

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