Showing results for controlled experiment. Search instead for controlled environment.

controlled experiment

American

noun

an experiment or trial that uses controls, usually separating the subjects into one or more control groups and experimental groups.

Etymology

Origin of controlled experiment

First recorded in 1885–90

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.

To isolate the issue, Duffy and Li designed a controlled experiment with people ages 45 to 55.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

To explore this process, researchers conducted a carefully controlled experiment in healthy volunteers.

From Science Daily • Feb. 19, 2026

Note: This was a carefully controlled experiment, run by doctors.

From NewsForKids.net • Apr. 30, 2024

But, he added, “a scientific controlled experiment is impossible here.”

From New York Times • May 12, 2023

In a perfect world, an economist could run a controlled experiment just as a physicist or a biologist does: setting up two samples, randomly manipulating one of them, and measuring the effect.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023