conditioning

UK: /kənˈdɪʃənɪŋ/ US: (kən dish′ə ning)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•di•tion•ing  (kən dish′ə ning), n. [Psychol.]

1. Psychiatry, Animal Behavior Also 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.
2. Psychiatry, Animal Behavior Also 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

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

conditioning / kənˈdɪʃənɪŋ/ noun

1. the learning process by which the behaviour of an organism becomes dependent on an event occurring in its environment

adjective

1. (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/   n. 

1. a particular way of being;
   particular state of existing:
   [countable] Your car is in poor condition.
2. Medicine state of health:
   [uncountable] He is in no condition to run in the marathon.
3. Pathology, Informal Terms [countable] an abnormal or diseased state of the body:
   suffered from a hereditary heart condition.
4. social position:
   [countable] A person of your condition can't expect to marry a member of the nobility.
5. Usually, conditions. [plural] existing circumstances:
   [countable] poor living conditions.
6. [countable] a circumstance that restricts or limits:
   A tornado can happen only under certain conditions.
7. 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]

8. to put in a healthy, fit, or proper state;
   prepare, such as by training:
   Constant exercise conditioned him for the race.
9. [~ + oneself] to accustom (oneself) to something:
   He had conditioned himself to the cold.
10. 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.
11. to apply a conditioner to:
    to condition one's hair.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•di•tion  (kən dish′ən), n. 

1. a particular mode of being of a person or thing;
   existing state;
   situation with respect to circumstances.
2. Medicine state of health:
   He was reported to be in critical condition.
3. fit or requisite state:
   to be out of condition; to be in no condition to run.
4. social position:
   in a lowly condition.
5. a restricting, limiting, or modifying circumstance:
   It can happen only under certain conditions.
6. a circumstance indispensable to some result;
   prerequisite;
   that on which something else is contingent:
   conditions of acceptance.
7. Usually, conditions. existing circumstances:
   poor living conditions.
8. something demanded as an essential part of an agreement;
   provision;
   stipulation:
   He accepted on one condition.
9. 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.
10. Pathology, Informal Terms [Informal.] an abnormal or diseased state of part of the body:
    heart condition; skin condition.
11. Education [U.S. Educ.]
    • Education a 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.
    • Education the course or subject to which the requirement is attached.
12. Grammar protasis.
13. Philosophy [Logic.] the antecedent of a conditional proposition.
14. 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. 

15. to put in a fit or proper state.
16. to accustom or inure:
    to condition oneself to the cold.
17. Energy to air-condition.
18. to form or be a condition of;
    determine, limit, or restrict as a condition.
19. to subject to particular conditions or circumstances:
    Her studies conditioned her for her job.
20. Education [U.S. Educ.] to impose a condition on (a student).
21. to test (a commodity) to ascertain its condition.
22. to make (something) a condition;
    stipulate.
23. Animal Behavior [Psychol.] to establish a conditioned response in (a subject).
24. [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. 

25. 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

con•di′tion•a•ble, adj. 
Synonyms

• 1. See state. 
• 8. requirement, proviso.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

condition / kənˈdɪʃən/ noun

1. a particular state of being or existence; situation with respect to circumstances: the human condition
2. something that limits or restricts something else; a qualification
3. (plural) external or existing circumstances: conditions were right for a takeover
4. state of health or physical fitness, esp good health (esp in the phrases in condition, out of condition)
5. an ailment or physical disability: a heart condition
6. something indispensable to the existence of something else: your happiness is a condition of mine
7. something required as part of an agreement or pact; terms: the conditions of the lease are set out
8. a declaration or provision in a will, contract, etc, that makes some right or liability contingent upon the happening of some event
9. the event itself
10. 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)
    See sufficient2, necessary3e
11. rank, status, or position in life
12. on condition that, upon condition that ⇒ (conjunction) provided that

verb (mainly tr)

1. to alter the response of (a person or animal) to a particular stimulus or situation
2. to establish a conditioned response in (a person or animal)
3. to put into a fit condition or state
4. to improve the condition of (one's hair) by use of special cosmetics
5. to accustom or inure
6. to subject to a condition

Etymology: 14th Century: from Latin conditiō, from condīcere to discuss, agree together, from con- together + dīcere to say