experiment

Universal Words noun, verb noun [C,U] 1 a scientific test that is carried out in order to study what happens and to gain new knowledge: to do / perform / carry out / conduct an experiment * proved / shown by experiment * laboratory experiments * Many people do not like the idea of experiments on animals. * The results of the experiment were inconclusive. * Facts can be established by observation and experiment. 2 ~ (in sth) a new activity, idea or method that you try out to see what happens or what effect it has: the country's brief experiment in democracy * I've never cooked this before so it's an experiment. * The system was installed four years ago as an experiment. verb [V] ~ (on sb/sth)