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

First author Michelle Kueppers, a postdoctoral scholar in Moerner's laboratory, explained that combining the strengths of different imaging approaches could help scientists answer previously inaccessible questions.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

Every two weeks, researchers collected air samples through thin tubes installed beneath the ground and analyzed them in a laboratory.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

The researchers found that GMPs could be grown extensively in the laboratory while retaining their ability to develop into functioning immune cells.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

To confirm that the method could be reproduced, collaborators in the laboratory of Ravi Majeti, MD, PhD, at Stanford University independently demonstrated that GMPs could be maintained for extended periods and genetically engineered.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

The quiet that is so unlike the quiet of the laboratory.

From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga

However, many earlier investigations took place in controlled laboratories and examined relatively brief periods, sometimes measuring the effects of exercise over a single night.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 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

A system designed to stop machines from rebelling will differ from one designed to hold laboratories responsible for testing practices, network architecture, safeguards, monitoring and intervention.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

For well over a decade, his spies had been infiltrating the United States, burrowing their way into private companies, schools, laboratories, and even government offices.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

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Related Words

• lab
• workshop

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