experiment
noun
ex·per·i·ment
| \ ik-ˈsper-ə-mənt
also -ˈspir-
\
also -ˈspir-
\
Definition of experiment
(Entry 1 of 2)
b
: a tentative procedure or policy
c
: an operation or procedure carried out under controlled conditions in order to discover an unknown effect or law, to test or establish a hypothesis, or to illustrate a known law
3
: the process of testing : experimentation
experiment
verb
ex·per·i·ment
| \ ik-ˈsper-ə-ˌment also -ˈspir
\
\
experimented;
experimenting;
experiments
Definition of experiment (Entry 2 of 2)
: to carry out experiments : try out a new procedure, idea, or activity
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Other Words from experiment
Verb
experimentation
\ ik-ˌsper-ə-mən-ˈtā-shən
, -ˌmen- also -ˌspir- \
noun
, -ˌmen- also -ˌspir- \
noun
experimenter
\ ik-ˈsper-ə-ˌmen-tər
also -ˈspir- \
noun
also -ˈspir- \
noun
Synonyms for experiment
Synonyms: Noun
essay, experimentation, test, trial
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Examples of experiment in a Sentence
Noun
Students will carry out simple laboratory experiments. They did some experiments with magnets. These theories have not yet been confirmed by experiment. an experiment in living more frugally the city's experiment with a longer school year
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
But the results of a complicated experiment cannot be reduced to a yes-or-no answer. — Hannah Fry, The New Yorker, "What Statistics Can and Can’t Tell Us About Ourselves," 2 Sep. 2019 The changes arepart of an experiment the District’s Department of Transportation launched in 2014. — Lori Aratani, Washington Post, "Parking rates could hit $7 an hour in Penn Quarter, Chinatown," 4 Aug. 2019 This is the first time something is ever being baked from a raw state on-orbit, so there are plenty of science questions to be answered—and that’s the priority of this experiment. — Mika Mckinnon, Quartz, "Astronauts will bake cookies in space to see how they cook in zero gravity," 1 Aug. 2019 While on the trip, the class finds themselves in the middle of a zombie invasion, the product of an experiment gone wrong at a nearby military base. — Katherine Schaffstall, The Hollywood Reporter, "Lupita Nyong'o Fights Zombies to Protect Students in 'Little Monsters' Trailer," 31 July 2019 Most of the results of this experiment aren't especially interesting. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "When it comes to moral decisions, testosterone doesn’t seem to do much," 23 July 2019 Specifically, in work carried out with Albert J. Libchaber, a Rockefeller University colleague, Dr. Feigenbaum demonstrated the wide applicability of his theory by means of an experiment on fluid dynamics at low temperatures. — Martin Weil, BostonGlobe.com, "Mitchell Feigenbaum, an architect of chaos theory, dies at 74," 14 July 2019 It could be argued there are many aspects of this experiment that are positive. — Christine Loh, Time, "Hong Kong Needs a Deep Dialogue of Reconciliation In Order to Move Forward," 5 July 2019 In yet another subset of the experiment—conducted in the U.S., U.K. and Poland—the researchers turned in some wallets that did not have a key. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "People Are Surprisingly Honest About Returning Lost Wallets," 21 June 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Once they are built, the Navy plans to experiment with how the vessels might be used to attack both submarines and surface ships, according to Navy documents. — The Atlantic, "Coming Soon to a Battlefield: Robots That Can Kill," 3 Sep. 2019 If there are products that could keep players playing longer — and entertaining — that can be purchased at a supermarket, then what’s the harm in at least allowing athletes to experiment? — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "Gronk has a good point: Athletes should be allowed to use CBD," 28 Aug. 2019 Students continue to experiment with manual setting and digital manipulation using Adobe Creative Cloud applications. — Ramona Sentinel, "Mentors needed to assist Career Technical Education students," 22 Aug. 2019 Much of the successful funding encouraged creative librarians to experiment and scale when successful, iterating and sharing their learnings with others. — Wired, "Philanthropy and the Challenge of Quantifying Success," 30 July 2019 The lesson remains important in the 21st century: Failing to experiment with new capabilities, whether radar in the 1940s or cyber operations and drone swarms today, diminishes battle readiness. — Benjamin Jensen, The Conversation, "A World War II battle holds key lessons for modern warfare," 25 July 2019 Using photography as a preparative tool as well as an art form later in life reveals Degas to have been a more progressive artist that was willing to experiment. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "New exhibit takes an intimate look at Edgar Degas and his circle," 25 July 2019 Sideward likes to experiment with IPAs and the occasional cider. — Patrick Connolly, orlandosentinel.com, "International Beer Day: Orlando’s craft beer scene has never been hotter," 24 July 2019 Whitehorn found herself in her late 20s, successful, single and able to experiment more freely. — Halley Bondy, NBC News, ""I just had to suppress everything": What it's like to be transgender in a male-dominated field," 21 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'experiment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for experiment
experiment
noun
English Language Learners Definition of experiment
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a scientific test in which you perform a series of actions and carefully observe their effects in order to learn about something
: something that is done as a test : something that you do to see how well or how badly it works
experiment
verb
English Language Learners Definition of experiment (Entry 2 of 2)
: to do a scientific test in which you perform a series of actions and carefully observe their effects
: to try a new activity or a new way of doing or thinking about something