Library / English Dictionary

EXPERIMENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of conducting a controlled test or investigation

Synonyms:

experiment; experimentation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("experiment" is a kind of...):

research project; scientific research (research into questions posed by scientific theories and hypotheses)

Meronyms (parts of "experiment"):

control; control condition (a standard against which other conditions can be compared in a scientific experiment)

condition; experimental condition (the procedure that is varied in order to estimate a variable's effect by comparison with a control condition)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "experiment"):

testing (the act of subjecting to experimental test in order to determine how well something works)

trial and error (experimenting until a solution is found)

Michelson-Morley experiment (a celebrated experiment conducted by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley; their failure to detect any influence of the earth's motion on the velocity of light was the starting point for Einstein's theory of relativity)

control experiment (an experiment designed to control for variables affecting the results of another experiment)

Derivation:

experiment (to conduct a test or investigation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A venture at something new or different

Example:

as an experiment he decided to grow a beard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("experiment" is a kind of...):

venture (any venturesome undertaking especially one with an uncertain outcome)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The testing of an idea

Example:

not all experimentation is done in laboratories

Synonyms:

experiment; experimentation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("experiment" is a kind of...):

enquiry; inquiry; research (a search for knowledge)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "experiment"):

pilot experiment (a preliminary experiment whose outcome can lead to a more extensive experiment)

test; trial; trial run; tryout (trying something to find out about it)

Derivation:

experiment (to conduct a test or investigation)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

To conduct a test or investigation

Example:

We are experimenting with the new drug in order to fight this disease

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "experiment" is one way to...):

investigate; look into (investigate scientifically)

Verb group:

experiment; try out (try something new, as in order to gain experience)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

experiment (the act of conducting a controlled test or investigation)

experiment (the testing of an idea)

experimentation (the act of conducting a controlled test or investigation)

experimentation (the testing of an idea)

experimenter (a research worker who conducts experiments)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Try something new, as in order to gain experience

Example:

The composer experimented with a new style

Synonyms:

experiment; try out

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Verb group:

experiment (to conduct a test or investigation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

experimentation (the testing of an idea)

Credits

 Context examples: 

An interpretation of results of an experiment.

(Experimental Finding, NCI Thesaurus)

The investigators then repeated the experiment, but this time treated the cerebral organoids with interferon 24 hours after infecting them.

(Cerebral organoid model provides clues about how to prevent virus-induced brain cell death, National Institutes of Health)

The date on which an experiment concludes.

(Experiment End Date, NCI Thesaurus)

Derived from experiment and observation rather than theory.

(Empiric, NCI Thesaurus)

"The experiment has succeeded. She is awakened at last."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The chip is used in various types of hybridization experiments.

(DNA Microarray Chip, NCI Thesaurus)

The insights gained from experiments in that facility now make it possible to detect the pose of a group of people using a single camera and a laptop computer.

(Computer that Reads Body Language, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Dr. Freedman then carried out specially designed face-to-face rejection experiments to account for the fact that people don't like to admit negative feelings, such as the pain of rejection.

(Sometimes You Shouldn't Say Sorry, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

By contrast, one-fifth of the experiments that lasted under 10 years picked up species changes.

(Environmental change is triggering an identity switch in grasslands, National Science Foundation)

In a paper, researchers describe an experiment that turned 20 kilometers of undersea fiber-optic cable into the equivalent of 10,000 seismic stations along the ocean floor.

(Underwater telecom cables make superb seismic network, National Science Foundation)