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

plural

laboratories

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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

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

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

The physics of nuclear magnetic resonance had been a laboratory tool since the 1940s, but it took Raymond Damadian’s 1977 breakthrough to produce the first human scan.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Their goal was to track down Florida's near-daily summer thunderstorms and observe a phenomenon that had never been confirmed outside a laboratory.

From Science Daily • Apr. 21, 2026

A toxic additive was also found in similar jars seized by police after laboratory tests in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the police statement said.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

It’s the first time Voyager has been selected for a trip to the orbiting laboratory.

From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026

Tru showed them three separate sets: a small auditorium, a laboratory, and a ballroom, each of which was a meticulous copy of a room in the Paris headquarters of Sinclair Scientifica.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Related Words

• lab
• workshop