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  

/ ləˈbɒrətərɪ, ˈlæbrəˌtɔːrɪ, -trɪ /

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

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Etymology

Origin of laboratory

1595–1605; < Medieval Latin labōrātōrium workshop, equivalent to Latin labōrā ( re ) to labor + -tōrium -tory ²

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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

To investigate whether gamma delta T cells could directly attack lung cancer, the scientists developed miniature tumors in the laboratory using tissue samples donated by patients.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026

Marcos Navarro, 22, a laboratory quality-control technician from Madrid, said protesters across Europe were meeting to share tactics.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

"There are no good resources. A lot of laboratory investigations... it's very hard to do them."

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

Then they went straight to work changing his arsenal, bringing their newest reclamation project to the laboratory that has been reshaping the trajectory of pitchers’ careers for years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Journey gets to move all over the laboratory.

From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga

If it is successful, this will become the first time a sample has been returned from Mars or its moons to be analysed in laboratories here on Earth.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

He first pursued corporate science jobs and prestigious postdoctoral fellowships at national laboratories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

At Nepal's two forensic laboratories, both in Kathmandu, experts are working to profile samples and build a database on a scale they have never handled before.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

Laboratory access remains limited in parts of the DRC, Sullivan found, and samples may need to travel considerable distances to reach national reference laboratories.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Both laboratories siphoned off Langley employees, including computers, for their startup staffs.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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Related Words

• lab
• workshop

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