experiment

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Trial

Nouns

1. experiment, experimentation, essay, attempt; venture, adventure, speculation; trial, probation, proof (see demonstration); [acid or litmus] test, check, tryout, assay, ordeal; empiricism, rule of thumb, trial and error; criterion, touchstone, golden rule; biofeedback. Informal, go, whack. Slang, shot, crack. See inquiry.

2. (experimental action) feeler, probe; trial balloon, test flight, scout, straw in the wind, speculation, random shot, leap or shot in the dark, [first or rough] draft; road test; tryout, screen test, audition, dry or trial run; road test, test flight; beta test; single or double blind; polygraph.

3. laboratory, field station; think tank; proving ground. Informal, lab.

4. researcher, tester, experimenter; test driver or pilot.

5. laboratory subject, patient; test animal, guinea pig, white rat.

Verbs

1. experiment, essay, try, endeavor, strive, attempt; venture, adventure, speculate, take a chance, tempt fortune, try one's luck or hand, havea go at, shoot at, make a go of it, give it a whirl; put on trial, put to the testor proof, try or check out, cross-check, shake down, put through one'spaces, try on; test, practice upon; try one's strength, test one's wings. Slang, milk a duck.

2. grope, feel or grope one's way; throw out a feeler, send up a trial balloon, see how the land lies, see how the wind blows, feel the pulse, beat the bushes, try one's fortune; explore, inquire. Informal, see how the ball bounces; fiddle, monkey, mess, play, or fool around.

Adjectives — experimental, probative, probationary, tentative, empirical, on probation, on trial, on approval.

Adverbs — experimentally, tentatively, on trial, by rule of thumb.

Phrases — if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again; nothing venture[d], nothing gain[ed]; the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Quotations — Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes (Oscar Wilde), Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other (Benjamin Franklin), Experience gives us the tests first and the lessons later (Naomi Judd).

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [An operation to establish a principle or a truth]

Syn. trial, test, analysis, essay, examination, clinical trial, investigation, experimentation, inspection, search, organized observation, research, scrutiny, trial and error, speculation, check, proof, demonstration, verification, sifting, dissection, operation, exercise, probe.

2. [A trial arrangement]

Syn. undertaking, trial, probation, probation trial, agreement, attempt, pilot project, pilot, testing program, dry run, rehearsal, practice, venture, enterprise, measure, try, tryout; see also sense 1.

Syn.- trial implies the trying of a person or thing in order to establish worth in actual performance [ hired on trial] ; experiment implies a showing by trial whether a thing will be effective [ the honor system was instituted as an experiment] and, in addition, is used of any action or process undertaken to discover something not yet known or to demonstrate something known [experiments in nuclear physics ] ; test implies a putting of a thing to decisive proof by thorough examination or trial under controlled conditions and with fixed standards in mind [ a test of a New jet plane ] v.

1. [To investigate scientifically]

Syn. analyze, investigate, test, try, probe, search, venture, explore, diagnose, prove, conduct an experiment, research, verify, speculate, study, examine, scrutinize, weigh, assay, sample, dissect, make inquiry, follow a clue, put to the test, play around with*, fool with*, cut and try*.

2. [To put on trial]

Syn. test, rehearse, try out, test out, try tentatively, sample, put on one's honor, hold under probation, put through one's paces, try by ordeal, give an opportunity, practice upon, have a go*.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

test, trial, investigation, analysis, examination, assay, probe, inquiry, research, trial and error, try, study, *double-blind study. ''A hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.''—Vernon Law. see science

II

v.

test, try, investigate, analyze, examine, assess, assay, prove, probe, inquire, research, study, weigh, explore, scrutinize.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I noun An operation employed to resolve an uncertainty: experimentation, test, trial. See INVESTIGATE. II verb To engage in experiments: test. See INVESTIGATE.