experiment
Americannoun
-
experiments
plural
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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)
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experiments,
present (3rd person singular)
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experimented,
past participle, past
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experimenting
present participle
noun
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a test or investigation, esp one planned to provide evidence for or against a hypothesis: a scientific experiment
-
the act of conducting such an investigation or test; experimentation; research
-
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.
-
See Note at hypothesis
Synonym Usage
See trial.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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experimentatornoun
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experimenternoun
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experimentornoun
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preexperimentnoun
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reexperimentverb (used without object)
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proexperimentadjective
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unexperimentedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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experimentsimple
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experimentssimple
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have experimentedperfect
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has experimentedperfect
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am experimentingprogressive
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are experimentingprogressive
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is experimentingprogressive
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have been experimentingperfect progressive
-
has been experimentingperfect progressive
Past
-
experimentedsimple
-
had experimentedperfect
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was experimentingprogressive
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were experimentingprogressive
-
had been experimentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of experiment
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English: “proof,” from Latin experīmentum “test, trial,” from experī(rī) “to test, try” ( see experience) + -mentum -ment
Explanation
If you see your science-loving neighbor headed home with a power cord, a handful of test tubes, a stopwatch, and a bag of potatoes, there’s probably no need to be alarmed. There’s a good chance he’s only conducting an experiment, a scientific test conducted under controlled conditions. To refer to a scientific test, use the noun experiment. If you want to describe the work done in conducting such a test, experiment will do the trick as well, since it can also act as a verb, as in "scientists experiment with helium." You can also use it more generally to describe trying a new method or idea. For example, you could experiment with a new hairstyle or different routes to get to school or work.
Vocabulary lists containing experiment
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 4
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The Scientific Method
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The New SAT: The Language of the Test
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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.
See Examples For:
Sabalenka and Djokovic turned out to be a very brief experiment.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Often the experiment fails, and it must, or there would be nothing to learn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
"For some scientists, myself included, that reality can be unsettling. But it also creates an opportunity to turn an imperfect situation into a useful experiment."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
The Guehi experiment may end up being a long-term fix with Maresca saying afterwards he provides "a solution" in the middle of the park.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
To this end, Orff created frameworks or pathways to help children experiment without pressure or stress.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
In laboratory experiments, the modified cells successfully infiltrated tumor organoids grown in dishes.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
At the meeting, Jordan recounted experiments with Flock cameras he purchased legally.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Dai Yuanyuan, 24, works in a biology lab where she helps conduct experiments that could lead to finding the next lifesaving medicine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
His team has carried out experiments placing QR codes around his university campus and in workplaces, to study people's willingness to scan them.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
It is a key feature of his work that Galileo always carried out experiments to test hypotheses, modifying or abandoning those hypotheses if the outcomes of the experiments did not match their predictions.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Furthermore, the company has experimented with a new “asset-light” option that allows customers to deploy Nebius’ AI cloud offerings within their own data centers.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
ME: Do you think if location and money weren’t a factor you would have still worked with hardware, or would you have experimented more?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Nearby, in a mini-exhibit on video games, visitors are asked, “Have you ever experimented with your identity in video games?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
In 2017, Danavle and her husband experimented with hydroponic strawberry farming.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Five trainees with rare marvels experimented, learning to share their talents unnaturally.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
While it still has only a handful of commercial vineyards, along with smaller growers experimenting with wine production, the amount of land being planted with vineyards is continuing to grow.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Some bars, Infante noted, are already experimenting with lower-priced cocktails and expanded happy hours after discovering there may simply be a ceiling to what customers will pay for a drink.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
In other words, the new fossil helps us understand a phase preceding the rise of dinosaurs and crocodiles, when their close relatives were still experimenting with different body shapes, postures, and modes of locomotion.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Since his career began, Kelly had been pushing cine-dance forward, directing his first sequence and experimenting with double exposure in the “Alter Ego” dance for the 1944 film “Cover Girl.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Sometimes it was random doodles, but lately I’d been experimenting with graffiti—tagging, specifically—because some tagging techniques reminded me of highly stylized Persian calligraphy.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
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.
