control experiment
noun
plural control experiments
: an experiment in which all variable factors have been kept constant and which is used as a standard of comparison to the experimental component in a controlled experiment
Examples of control experiment in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Gottlieb headed the MKUltra Psychedelic program, which conducted dangerous and deadly mind control experiments on willing–and unwilling–subjects during the height of the Cold War.
—
Brian Welk, IndieWire, 22 Oct. 2025
As participants watched these videos, the researchers administered shocks to their hands — both painful and non-painful, the latter as a control experiment.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
The Aston researchers went back in and created a new control experiment based on edited images of the original results.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 20 Mar. 2025
What kind of mind control experiments were going on?
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
The lab uses the microbes to study what happens to DNA during cell division, but even in the control experiments, none of the yeast survived.
—Bymolly Herring, science.org, 31 July 2024
In a control experiment using OpenAI’s GPT-2 text generator first released in 2019 to teach GPT-4, the more recent system became less capable and similar to the inferior system.
—Will Knight, WIRED, 14 Dec. 2023
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Brian Welk, IndieWire, 22 Oct. 2025
As participants watched these videos, the researchers administered shocks to their hands — both painful and non-painful, the latter as a control experiment.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
The Aston researchers went back in and created a new control experiment based on edited images of the original results.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 20 Mar. 2025
What kind of mind control experiments were going on?
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
The lab uses the microbes to study what happens to DNA during cell division, but even in the control experiments, none of the yeast survived.
—Bymolly Herring, science.org, 31 July 2024
In a control experiment using OpenAI’s GPT-2 text generator first released in 2019 to teach GPT-4, the more recent system became less capable and similar to the inferior system.
—Will Knight, WIRED, 14 Dec. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Control experiment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/control%20experiment. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share