the learning process by which the behaviour of an organism becomes dependent on an event occurring in its environment
(of a shampoo, cosmetic, etc) intended to improve the condition of something: a conditioning rinse
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
con•di•tion /kənˈdɪʃən/USA pronunciation
n.
v. [~ + object]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- a particular way of being;
particular state of existing:[countable]Your car is in poor condition. - Medicine state of health:[uncountable]He is in no condition to run in the marathon.
- Pathology, Informal Terms[countable] an abnormal or diseased state of the body: suffered from a hereditary heart condition.
- social position:[countable]A person of your condition can't expect to marry a member of the nobility.
- Usually, conditions. [plural] existing circumstances:[countable]poor living conditions.
- [countable] a circumstance that restricts or limits: A tornado can happen only under certain conditions.
- something demanded as a necessary or essential part of an agreement;
stipulation:[countable* often: on (+ modifier) + ~]I'll go on the condition that you'll come too. The conditions and terms of this contract are confusing.
v. [~ + object]
- to put in a healthy, fit, or proper state;
prepare, such as by training:Constant exercise conditioned him for the race. - [~ + oneself] to accustom (oneself) to something: He had conditioned himself to the cold.
- to influence the opinions or actions of (another):[~ + object + to + verb]The hypnotist had conditioned him to twitch his hand whenever he had feelings of inadequacy.
- to apply a conditioner to: to condition one's hair.
con•di•tion•ing
(kən dish′ə ning),USA pronunciation n. [Psychol.]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Psychiatry, Animal BehaviorAlso called operant conditioning, instrumental conditioning. a process of changing behavior by rewarding or punishing a subject each time an action is performed until the subject associates the action with pleasure or distress.
- Psychiatry, Animal BehaviorAlso called classical conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning, respondent conditioning. a process in which a stimulus that was previously neutral, as the sound of a bell, comes to evoke a particular response, as salivation, by being repeatedly paired with another stimulus that normally evokes the response, as the taste of food.
- condition + -ing1 1915–20
con•di•tion
(kən dish′ən),USA pronunciation n.
v.t.
v.i.
con•di′tion•a•ble, adj.
- a particular mode of being of a person or thing;
existing state;
situation with respect to circumstances. - Medicinestate of health:He was reported to be in critical condition.
- fit or requisite state:to be out of condition; to be in no condition to run.
- social position:in a lowly condition.
- a restricting, limiting, or modifying circumstance:It can happen only under certain conditions.
- a circumstance indispensable to some result;
prerequisite;
that on which something else is contingent:conditions of acceptance. - Usually, conditions. existing circumstances:poor living conditions.
- something demanded as an essential part of an agreement;
provision;
stipulation:He accepted on one condition. - Law
- a stipulation in an agreement or instrument transferring property that provides for a change consequent on the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a stated event.
- the event upon which this stipulation depends.
- Pathology, Informal Terms[Informal.]an abnormal or diseased state of part of the body:heart condition; skin condition.
- Education[U.S. Educ.]
- Educationa requirement imposed on a college student who fails to reach the prescribed standard in a course at the end of the regular period of instruction, permitting credit to be established by later performance.
- Educationthe course or subject to which the requirement is attached.
- Grammarprotasis.
- Philosophy[Logic.]the antecedent of a conditional proposition.
- Informal Terms, Idioms on or upon condition that, with the promise or provision that;
provided that;
if:She accepted the position on condition that there would be opportunity for advancement.
v.t.
- to put in a fit or proper state.
- to accustom or inure:to condition oneself to the cold.
- Energyto air-condition.
- to form or be a condition of;
determine, limit, or restrict as a condition. - to subject to particular conditions or circumstances:Her studies conditioned her for her job.
- Education[U.S. Educ.]to impose a condition on (a student).
- to test (a commodity) to ascertain its condition.
- to make (something) a condition;
stipulate. - Animal Behavior[Psychol.]to establish a conditioned response in (a subject).
- [Textiles.]
- to test (fibers or fabrics) for the presence of moisture or other foreign matter.
- to replace moisture lost from (fibers or fabrics) in manipulation or manufacture.
v.i.
- to make conditions.
- Latin condiciōn- (stem of condiciō) agreement, equivalent. to con- con- + dic- say (see dictate) + -iōn- -ion; spelling, spelled with t by influence of Late Latin or Medieval Latin forms; compare French condition
- Anglo-French; Old French
- Middle English condicioun 1275–1325
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged See state.
- 8.See corresponding entry in Unabridged requirement, proviso.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
a particular state of being or existence; situation with respect to circumstances: the human condition something that limits or restricts something else; a qualification - (plural)
external or existing circumstances: conditions were right for a takeover state of health or physical fitness, esp good health (esp in the phrases in condition, out of condition) an ailment or physical disability: a heart condition something indispensable to the existence of something else: your happiness is a condition of mine something required as part of an agreement or pact; terms: the conditions of the lease are set out a declaration or provision in a will, contract, etc, that makes some right or liability contingent upon the happening of some event the event itself a statement whose truth is either required for the truth of a given statement (a necessary condition) or sufficient to guarantee the truth of the given statement (a sufficient condition)
Seesufficient 2 necessary 3e rank, status, or position in life - on condition that, upon condition that ⇒ (conjunction)
provided that
to alter the response of (a person or animal) to a particular stimulus or situation to establish a conditioned response in (a person or animal) to put into a fit condition or state to improve the condition of (one's hair) by use of special cosmetics to accustom or inure to subject to a condition