experimental

UK: /ɪkˌspɛrɪˈmɛnt^əl/ US: (ik sper′ə men′tl)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ex•per•i•men•tal  (ik sper′ə men′tl), adj. 

1. pertaining to, derived from, or founded on experiment:
   an experimental science.
2. of the nature of an experiment;
   tentative:
   The new program is still in an experimental stage.
3. Show Business functioning as an experiment or used for experimentation:
   an experimental airplane.
4. based on or derived from experience;
   empirical:
   experimental knowledge.

n. 

5. something that is experimental.

• Medieval Latin experīmentālis. See experiment, -al¹
• late Middle English 1400–50

ex•per′i•men′tal•ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

experimental / ɪkˌspɛrɪˈmɛnt^əl/ adjective

1. relating to, based on, or having the nature of experiment
2. based on or derived from experience; empirical
3. tending to experiment
4. tentative or provisional

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ex•per•i•ment /n. ɪkˈspɛrəmənt; v. -ˌmɛnt/  n. 

1. a test, trial, or set of actions, esp. one for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, law, or theory:
   [countable] a laboratory experiment.
2. the conducting of such tests, trials, etc.:
   [uncountable] to prove by experiment.

v. 

3. to try or test esp. in order to discover or prove something: [~ + with + object]
   The chemist was experimenting with the formula.
   [~ + on + object]
   The scientists experimented on two groups of subjects.

ex•per•i•men•tal, adj. 
ex•per•i•men•tal•ly, adv. 
ex•per•i•men•ta•tion /ɪkˌspɛrəmɛnˈteɪʃən/  n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ex•per•i•ment  (n. ik sper′ə mənt;v. ek sper′ə ment′), n. 

1. a test, trial, or tentative procedure;
   an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, supposition, etc.:
   a chemical experiment;
   a teaching experiment;
   an experiment in living.
2. the conducting of such operations;
   experimentation:
   a product that is the result of long experiment.
3. [Obs.] experience.

v.i. 

4. to try or test, esp. in order to discover or prove something:
   to experiment with a new procedure.

• Latin experīmentum. See experience, -ment
• Middle English: proof 1325–75

ex•per′i•ment′er, ex•per′i•men′tor, ex•per′i•men•ta′tor, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. See trial. 
• 2. research, investigation.