Search Result for "trial-and-error": 
Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (2)

1. trying out various means or theories until error is satisfactorily reduced or eliminated;
- Example: "he argued that all learning is a trial-and-error process that resembles biological evolution"

2. relating to solving problems by experience rather than theory;
- Example: "they adopted a trial-and-error procedure"



WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

trial-and-error
    adj 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"
    2: relating to solving problems by experience rather than
       theory; "they adopted a trial-and-error procedure"