technique

American  

[tek-neek] / tɛkˈnik /

noun

• techniques
  plural

1. the manner and ability with which an artist, writer, dancer, athlete, or the like employs the technical skills of a particular art or field of endeavor.

2. the body of specialized procedures and methods used in any specific field, especially in an area of applied science.

3. method of performance; way of accomplishing.

4. technical skill; ability to apply procedures or methods so as to effect a desired result.

5. Informal. method of projecting personal charm, appeal, etc..

   He has the greatest technique with customers.

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technique British  

/ tɛkˈniːk /

noun

1. a practical method, skill, or art applied to a particular task

2. proficiency in a practical or mechanical skill

3. special facility; knack

   he had the technique of turning everything to his advantage

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• techniques
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of technique

First recorded in 1810–20; from French: “technical” (adjective), “technic” (noun), from Greek technikós, techniká; see technic

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Explanation

A technique is a method of doing some task or performing something. Your technique for opening drinks might be to twist the top off with your teeth. If so, your dentist better have a good tooth-repair technique. The noun technique can also refer to someone's skillfulness with the fundamentals of a particular task. A violinist could have excellent technique, but lack passion, for example. Writers usually have very individual writing techniques: One might need to write late at night and another early in the morning; some have to write by hand on paper, while others always use the computer.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

technique techniques

In this technique artists take a wet image and cover certain areas with waterproof objects, then use a strong gust of air to remove the unprotected surface, creating ghostly voids.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

They used mass photometry, a technique developed at Oxford that determines the mass of individual molecules by measuring the light they scatter.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

He pioneered the technique of glazed terracotta, producing reliefs featuring white figures set against blue backdrops whose lustrous surfaces and rich hues gave color a new role in sculpture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

At the same time, China also exploited the distillation technique of posing a Western model questions and then training their own models on the answers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

He’d used an artist’s technique called “the golden mean” to divide the picture into imaginary thirds both vertically and horizontally, like a tic-tac-toe board.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

Every three months, Davidoff works with a data-breach services company called NetDiligence to poll a group of her peers about the techniques they are seeing in real-world cyberattacks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

Siddhant Marwah, a final-year student, joined the school to acquire "French techniques that represent the quintessence of culinary expertise."

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

Unlike techniques that study isolated molecules in a solution, cryo-ET can reveal how proteins are arranged and interact within their natural cellular surroundings.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

Despite a major international police appeal and the use of ground-breaking facial reimaging techniques, his identity and the cause of his death remain a mystery.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

Katya died like a true Soviet fighter pilot, first filling an enemy fighter with bullets before using expert flight techniques to put out the flames that were engulfing her own plane.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

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Related Words

• approach
• art
• capability
• capacity
• craft
• facility
• know-how
• manner
• means
• mode
• performance
• procedure
• routine
• skill
• style
• system

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