trial-and-error

1. 1.

   trying out various means or theories until error is satisfactorily reduced or eliminated

   “he argued that all learning is a trial-and-error process that resembles biological evolution”

   Similarempirical
2. 2.

   relating to solving problems by experience rather than theory

   “they adopted a trial-and-error procedure”

   Similarheuristic

Questions about trial-and-error

What does trial-and-error mean?

trial-and-error means "trying out various means or theories until error is satisfactorily reduced or eliminated". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in trial-and-error?

trial-and-error has 5 syllables: tri-a-l-an-d-er-ror. The stress falls on "l-an".

Is trial-and-error a common word?

trial-and-error is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.