conditioning
Americannoun
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Also called operant conditioning, instrumental conditioning. a process of changing behavior by rewarding or punishing a subject each time an action is performed until the subject associates the action with pleasure or distress.
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Also called classical conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning, respondent conditioning. a process in which a stimulus that was previously neutral, as the sound of a bell, comes to evoke a particular response, as salivation, by being repeatedly paired with another stimulus that normally evokes the response, as the taste of food.
noun
adjective
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Origin of conditioning
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“He talks a lot of trash,” Dodgers strength and conditioning coach Travis Smith told The Times this week, with a smile.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
England explained his exile on grounds of conditioning, on a tendency to lose pace or hobble out of matches altogether.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
Low-income families and seniors on fixed incomes already struggle to afford their bills and air conditioning is a must, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
And finally, they’ll examine why the UK and Europe are still so resistant to air conditioning despite being plagued by deadly heatwaves.
From Slate • May 30, 2026
He saw no sign of air conditioning, which meant it must have been a thousand degrees in there.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
