Phrase guide

trial and error

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The process of finding a solution to a problem by trying many possible solutions and learning from mistakes until success is attained.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • Navigating by trial and error may get you there eventually, but using a map is faster.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

experimenting until a solution is found

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: experiment, experimentation

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: التَّجْرِبَة وَالْخَطَأ — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Catalan: prova i error — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Catalan: assaig i error — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Catalan: tempteig — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Catalan: tanteig — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Chinese Mandarin: 嘗試錯誤 /尝试错误 (chángshì cuòwù) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Chinese Mandarin: 試錯 /试错 (shìcuò) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Dutch: trial-and-error — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Finnish: yritys ja erehdys — solution by learning from mistakes
  • French: tâtonnement — solution by learning from mistakes
  • German: trial and error — solution by learning from mistakes
  • German: Versuch und Irrtum — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Hebrew: נִסּוּי וּטְעִיָּה (nisúy ute'iyá) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Hungarian: próbálgatás — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Hungarian: próbálkozás — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Hungarian: kísérletezés — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Italian: prove ed errori — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Italian: tentativi ed errori — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Japanese: 試行錯誤 (shikō sakugo) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Korean: 시행착오 (sihaengchago) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Norwegian Bokmål: prøving og feiling — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: prøving og feiling — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Persian: آزمون و خطا (âzmun-o-xatâ) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Persian: سعی و خطا (sa'y-o-xatâ) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Polish: metoda prób i błędów — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Portuguese: tentativa e erro — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Russian: ме́тод проб и оши́бок (métod prob i ošíbok) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Russian: ме́тод ты́ка (métod týka) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Slovak: pokus-omyl — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Spanish: ensayo y error — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Spanish: tanteo — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Spanish: probatura y error — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Spanish: prueba y error — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Tagalog: pagsubok at pagkakamali — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Tagalog: babaso — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Thai: ลองผิดลองถูก (lɔɔng-pìt lɔɔng-tùuk) — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Turkish: deneme yanılma — solution by learning from mistakes
  • Vietnamese: phương pháp thử và sai — solution by learning from mistakes