lab rat

[ lab rat ]

1. Also called lab·o·ra·to·ry rat [lab, -r, uh, -tawr-ee rat, lab, -er-, uh, -]. a rat, typically the Norway rat, used by scientists for biological research.
2. Informal. a laboratory researcher, often a graduate student, whose dedication to the research supplants other interests and activities, including personal relationships:

   The loneliest guy in the room is the one who’s in love with a lab rat.

3. Informal. the subject of any sort of experiment:

   Not all the human lab rats in this study fully understood the potential consequences.

Word History and Origins

Origin of lab rat¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Dolphins and lab rats and women undergo a common internal renaissance, a dramatic overhaul of motive, with babies suddenly trumping food and sex as our raison d’etre.

From Time

Experiments with lab rats and monkeys show how chronically stressing out a new mother can stunt her maternal brain and disrupt her and her offspring’s behavior.

From Time

I minded that you were talking to her yesterday in the lab'rat'ry, before the telegram came about Mr. George.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• experimental subject
• subject
• test subject