laboratory test

noun

variants or lab test

: a test conducted under controlled scientific conditions in a laboratory or similar setting

… in laboratory tests of acyclovir, herpes strains have mutated to forms resistant to the drug.

—Linda Garmon

We've measured the amount of soap in shampoos and used lab tests to determine cleaning action and pH.

—Consumer Reports

specifically, medical : a test (such as a blood test or urinalysis procedure) performed by a medical laboratory on a specimen taken from a patient

Even experienced doctors cannot distinguish "strep" throat from other-caused sore throats without a laboratory test of fluid taken from the throat.

—Melva Weber

Those two values are seen with a complete blood count, the lab test that enumerates the number of white and red blood cells.

—Paul G. Donahue

laboratory testing noun

or less commonly lab testing

… it has survived nearly two years of strenuous independent laboratory testing and been certified safe for home and commercial use.

—Harper's

Examples of laboratory test in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There are no laboratory tests that diagnose spider veins, but imaging tests may be ordered if chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is suspected.2 With CVI, the leg veins become damaged and do not allow the blood to flow back to the heart. —Laura Schober, Health, 12 Jan. 2025

Respiratory illness activity is tracked through a variety of sources, including emergency department visits, laboratory test positivity, ICU admissions, respiratory illness outbreaks in long-term care facilities and influenza-like illness absenteeism in county schools, the report said. —Mike Danahey, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2025

For completeness here, an assay report and the data that belongs to it is a foundational laboratory test that measures the amount or presence of a specific substance or other target entity. —Adrian Bridgwater, Forbes, 14 Dec. 2024

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sent a team of experts to the field to collect samples and conduct laboratory tests to try to identify the pathogen responsible. —Marta Musso, WIRED, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined above