How to Use trial and error in a Sentence

trial and error

noun
  • A lot of it is just trial and error.
    — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 14 Nov. 2025
  • Be aware that traps can take some trial and error.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 15 Feb. 2026
  • There’s a lot of trial and error over what is the right amount of blood.
    — Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2019
  • The process was trial and error.
    — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 9 Aug. 2025
  • Every bit of it was on the fly, pure trial and error.
    — Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 8 Apr. 2026
  • But getting there can take a lot of trial and error.
    — Sarah Hoffmann, Allure, 3 Oct. 2025
  • A lot of this job is trial and error, just to find the right path that suits the ground.
    — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 9 July 2025
  • Choosing the best one for your pet may take some trial and error.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 19 Oct. 2022
  • For that, trial and error with beta testers has gone a long way.
    — Brian Barrett, WIRED, 13 June 2018
  • But his long stretch of trial and error was far from wasted.
    — Preston Fore, Fortune, 21 Apr. 2026
  • All that trial and error is stressing your plant out.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 17 Feb. 2026
  • The best way to find the right product for your dog is by trial and error.
    — Amber, Discover Magazine, 15 Oct. 2022
  • Trust me, this has already been a week of trial and error at my house.
    — Katharine Hill, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2020
  • All of this was trial and error to see what would even work within the scene.
    — Jessica Wang, EW.com, 11 Apr. 2022
  • And to that end, weight is also a big part of the trial and error process.
    — Kristina Rutkowski, Harper's BAZAAR, 9 Aug. 2023
  • So far, most work has been done by trial and error, one device at a time.
    — Katherine Bourzac, IEEE Spectrum, 10 Jan. 2017
  • It was long thought that these birds were using trial and error to find their prey.
    — Veronique Greenwood New York Times, Star Tribune, 10 Dec. 2020
  • Finding the right fit might take some trial and error, but go by what feels best to you.
    — Jen Murphy, Outside Online, 12 Dec. 2024
  • This may be one of those things your son and his girlfriend need to learn through trial and error.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Denver Post, 1 June 2026
  • The last two years of my history has been trial and error.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 7 Nov. 2025
  • That wasn’t the only trial and error.
    — Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
  • What works for me and Ragland may not work for you, and there will be some trial and error.
    — L'oreal Thompson Payton, Fortune Well, 24 July 2023
  • That involves some trial and error, like in the case of the sepsis tool.
    — Erin Brodwin, STAT, 5 Oct. 2020
  • The only way to truly get your size spot-on is through good old trial and error.
    — Bianca London, Glamour, 28 Mar. 2025
  • Finding the right fit can take some trial and error, Shen adds.
    — Erica Sweeney, Time, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Up to this point, Emo Nite has been built through trial and error.
    — Jessica Shalvoy, Variety, 10 June 2022
  • What does that trial and error look like, in a practical sense?
    — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 14 Nov. 2025
  • There’s no trial and error in making a vanilla ice cream and adding things to it.
    — Robert Philpot -, star-telegram, 30 May 2014
  • For airports, this will be a messy process with a lot of trial and error involved.
    — Eric Rosen, Travel + Leisure, 27 May 2020
  • There’s a lot of learning on the fly, and plenty of trial and error.
    — Mike Jones, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trial and error.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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