experiment
Americannoun
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a test, trial, or tentative procedure; an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, supposition, etc..
a chemical experiment; a teaching experiment; an experiment in living.
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the conducting of such operations; experimentation.
a product that is the result of long experiment.
- Synonyms:
- investigation, research
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Obsolete. experience.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a test or investigation, esp one planned to provide evidence for or against a hypothesis: a scientific experiment
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the act of conducting such an investigation or test; experimentation; research
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an attempt at something new or different; an effort to be original
a poetic experiment
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an obsolete word for experience
verb
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A test or procedure carried out under controlled conditions to determine the validity of a hypothesis or make a discovery.
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See Note at hypothesis
Related Words
See trial.
Other Word Forms
- experimentator noun
- experimenter noun
- experimentor noun
- preexperiment noun
- proexperiment adjective
- reexperiment verb (used without object)
- unexperimented adjective
Etymology
Origin of experiment
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English: “proof,” from Latin experīmentum “test, trial,” from experī(rī) “to test, try” ( experience ) + -mentum -ment
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.
“We will experiment, invest disproportionately behind what matters and pull back when something isn’t working.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026
North Dakota sits at the center of an unlikely experiment: Tax-exempt groups can install Las Vegas-style machines in restaurants, bars and other establishments and watch the money roll in.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
In one experiment, scientists introduced glucose into a single tanycyte while observing nearby astrocytes.
From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026
Project Maven is the Pentagon's flagship artificial intelligence program, launched in 2017 as a narrow experiment to help military analysts make sense of the torrent of drone footage pouring in from conflict zones.
From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026
But still, in that moment, I saw us through her eyes: A failed experiment.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
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.
