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

On Sept. 1, tech news site The Information published a story that claimed OpenAI’s latest model, Astra, employed a new technique that made it more powerful, but revealed less of its thinking.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Researchers say the minimally invasive technique could also help some patients delay or avoid surgery.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

At the same time, China also exploited the distillation technique of posing a Western model questions and then training their own models on the answers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

To investigate how these fractures influence the movement of heat, researchers at Nagoya University in Japan examined the samples using a technique called lock-in thermography.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026

He continued to practice his breathing technique, and his heart rate finally started to subside from the painful thumping of the last few minutes.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

So far "the evidence that security researchers are seeing is that nobody was actively performing attacks using the techniques available", Kerrison said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

Breathing techniques - take a long breath through your nose, add a second inhale at the top and release it with a long sigh through your mouth.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

The Madison County detectives had been inspired by investigative genetic genealogy techniques used to identify the Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo, back in 2018.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

To investigate further, the researchers applied standard zooarchaeological techniques, which involve studying animal remains recovered from archaeological sites.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026

“I sold them the techniques of the Romans. Do you know the phalanx? No? Well, they do. And they owe it to me.”

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

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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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