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

• laboratories
  plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• laboratories
  plural

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

See Examples For:

laboratory laboratories

She was fastidious, using the company’s laboratory to analyze the tannins and colors of grapes in different parcels of the vineyard to craft specific types of wine, just as she had been taught in Bordeaux.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Traps have been installed at the airport and mosquitoes captured will be analysed in a laboratory to determine their species and origin.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

His own laboratory has begun exploring this direction by drawing on ideas from embodied cognition and ecological psychology.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

At the same time, the researchers can perform the measurements using a powerful soft X-ray source in the laboratory that produces extremely short pulses of light.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

“Eureka!” cried the children, for their bubbling liquid had turned a rich shade of brown, and the foul smell of the laboratory was rapidly giving way to a fragrance that was deliciously sweet.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

"Thankfully, nature has provided us with magnetars, which are the perfect cosmic laboratories to go looking for this effect."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

As a result, quantum materials can perform remarkable tasks in carefully controlled laboratories, but they are difficult and expensive to use in real-world devices.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

Test results can take anywhere from several weeks to a few months depending on the complexity of the case and the workload of forensic laboratories.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

Coordination with universities and independent laboratories will be required as these organizations provide support for implementing the new policy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

“To truly test for salt minerals, the humans will have to run tests in their laboratories on Earth,” Guardian says.

From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga

Related Words

• lab
• workshop