DictionaryAI

experience

Sayik-SPEER-ee-uhns/ɪkˈspɪɹ.i.əns/UK/ɪkˈspɪə.ɹɪəns/

Pluralexperiences (some meanings)

Verbexperiences, experiencing, experienced

6 meanings of experience

Practice

  1. 1
    skill from practicenoununcountable
    The useful knowledge a person gains by doing things over a long time.

    Like the skill a cook builds after making the same dish hundreds of times.

    A nurse with years of experience can spot problems very quickly.

    He lacked the experience needed for such a hard job.

    UsageSay a lot of experience (not incorrect: a lot of experiences).

    Similarexpertise, knowledge, skill, practice

    Oppositeinexperience

  2. 2
    to go throughverbtransitive
    To go through something, like an event or a feeling, that may change you or teach you.

    Like tasting a new food yourself instead of just hearing about it.

    Many people experience fear before speaking in public.

    You may experience some pain for a few days after the surgery.

    UsageSay experience pain or experience problems.

    Similarundergo, encounter, feel, suffer, face

  3. 3
    an eventnouncountable
    Something you have done, often something new or worth remembering.

    Like a single ride at a fair that you remember long afterward.

    Skydiving was an experience she would never forget.

    Visiting the old castle was a wonderful experience for the kids.

    UsageSay a great experience or have an experience.

    Similarevent, episode, adventure

  4. 4
    nouncountable or uncountable
    What you have seen, felt, and lived through yourself, which shapes what you know and think.

    Like the difference between burning your own hand and just being told the stove is hot.

    The photos were nice, but the experience of being there was much better.

    Only through experience did he learn how cruel the sea could be.

    UsageSay in my experience or from experience.

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    game pointsnouncountable or uncountable
    Points a game character earns to grow stronger and reach the next level.

    Like collecting stickers that, once you have enough, move you up a level.

    Defeating the dragon gave her character a lot of experience.

    In this game, you earn experience by beating monsters.

    UsageYou earn experience, or XP.

    Note
  2. 6
    nounobsoleteuncountable
    A test or trial carried out to find something out.
    She caused him to make experience / Vpon wyld beasts, which she in woods did find, / With wrongfull powre oppressing others of their kind
    1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie QueeneHere, experience means a test or trial to find something out.
    Note

Practice

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Origin

From Latin experientia, meaning a trial or test, from experiri "to try or test." It came into English through Old French.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts