rehearsal

From rehearse +‎ -al.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈhɝsl̩/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈhɜːsl̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)səl

rehearsal (countable and uncountable, plural rehearsals)

1. The practising of something which is to be performed before an audience, usually to test or improve the interaction between several participating people, or to allow technical adjustments with respect to staging to be done.
   • 1961 November, “Talking of Trains: "Blue trains" run again”, in Trains Illustrated, page 644:

     After modifications had been effected by the builders, a rehearsal of electric operation was held on September 17. A complete day's timetable was run through and apparently all went well, except for insulator trouble with the overhead wires near Anniesland; a further rehearsal was held on the following Sunday.

2. A preparatory activity analogous to a rehearsal (sense 1).

   The forest fires are just a rehearsal for the devastation that will be caused if climate change continues to worsen.

3. The act of rehearsing or contriving something; the fact of something's being rehearsed.

   The prosecution argued that the defendant's exact repetition of his account of the events several times demonstrated the rehearsal of his story.