rehearsal

noun

re·​hears·​al ri-ˈhər-səl 

1

: something recounted or told again : recital

2

a

: a private performance or practice session preparatory to a public appearance

b

: a practice exercise : trial

Synonyms of rehearsal

• practice
• trial
• preview

Examples of rehearsal in a Sentence

She was 15 minutes late to rehearsal.

There are only three more rehearsals before the concert.

Recent Examples on the Web

Melanie Hamrick, a former member of American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet, was leaping down a dingy stairwell in the company’s lower-Broadway rehearsal building recently. —Bob Morris, New Yorker, 15 June 2026

Part physics lecture, part rehearsal for a future death, the 75-minute piece shifts from glowing equations and sandbox experiments to Tagore songs, Bollywood widow melodrama and intimate Bangla conversations. —Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026

Chavez recalls watching Impacciatore in her costume on the dance floor going hard during rehearsals and giving it all. —Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 11 June 2026

Outside, however, the day offered a different kind of rehearsal — one focused less on tactics than logistics. —Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing rehearsal

• dress rehearsal
• in rehearsal
• pre-rehearsal
• rehearsal dinner
• wedding rehearsal

Rhymes for rehearsal

• dispersal
• reversal
• transversal
• traversal
• bursal
• versal
• universal

Kids Definition

rehearsal

noun

re·​hears·​al ri-ˈhər-səl 

1

: a private performance or practice session in preparation for a public appearance

2

: a practice exercise : trial

Medical Definition

rehearsal

noun

re·​hears·​al ri-ˈhər-səl 

1

: a method for improving memory by mentally or verbally repeating over and over the information to be remembered

2

: the repeated mental review of a desired action or behavioral response

preoperative rehearsal of coping imagery to reduce anxiety