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

Niethammer's laboratory had already spent years investigating the molecular reactions involved in 5-oxoETE signaling.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

It also connected Ma's research with a separate investigation underway in the same laboratory, led by postdoctoral researcher Miklos Lengyel, MD, PhD.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

However, the laboratory results do not yet establish how well the treatment will perform over extended periods in patients.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

But Wednesday’s opening also highlighted laboratory tests of an open flame — and gave Haney a new line of attack.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

He and Mr. Loomis were locked up in the underground laboratory, apparently alone.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

The recommendations also establish expectations for cooperation among laboratories, phage manufacturing facilities, pharmacies, and clinical teams.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

The equivalent experimental work would have taken hundreds of millions of years in laboratories.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

Her sister, a high school student, standing nearby, described deteriorating learning conditions, with 40 pupils per class and a lack of facilities such as laboratories, at her school.

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026

Those 17 proteins were among 211 candidate designs generated by Claude that were sent to real-world research laboratories for physical testing.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026

Others had modern laboratories that made meat, eggs, and milk without any animals at all.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

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Related Words

• lab
• workshop

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