Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Experience \Ex*pe"ri*ence\, n. [F. exp['e]rience, L.
   experientia, tr. experiens, ?entis, p. pr. of experiri,
   expertus, to try; ex out + the root of pertus experienced.
   See {Peril}, and cf. {Expert}.]
   1. Trial, as a test or experiment. [Obs.]

            She caused him to make experience Upon wild beasts.
                                                  --Spenser.

   2. The effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by any
      event, whether witnessed or participated in; personal and
      direct impressions as contrasted with description or
      fancies; personal acquaintance; actual enjoyment or
      suffering. ``Guided by other's experiences.'' --Shak.

            I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and
            that is the lamp of experience.       --P. Henry

            To most men experience is like the stern lights of a
            ship, which illumine only the track it has passed.
                                                  --Coleridge.

            When the consuls . . . came in . . . they knew soon
            by experience how slenderly guarded against danger
            the majesty of rulers is where force is wanting.
                                                  --Holland.

            Those that undertook the religion of our Savior upon
            his preaching, had no experience of it. --Sharp.

   3. An act of knowledge, one or more, by which single facts or
      general truths are ascertained; experimental or inductive
      knowledge; hence, implying skill, facility, or practical
      wisdom gained by personal knowledge, feeling or action;
      as, a king without experience of war.

            Whence hath the mind all the materials of reason and
            knowledge? To this I answer in one word, from
            experience.                           --Locke.

            Experience may be acquired in two ways; either,
            first by noticing facts without any attempt to
            influence the frequency of their occurrence or to
            vary the circumstances under which they occur; this
            is observation; or, secondly, by putting in action
            causes or agents over which we have control, and
            purposely varying their combinations, and noticing
            what effects take place; this is experiment. --Sir
                                                  J. Herschel.

Source : WordNet®

experience
     n 1: the accumulation of knowledge or skill that results from
          direct participation in events or activities; "a man of
          experience"; "experience is the best teacher" [ant: {inexperience}]
     2: the content of direct observation or participation in an
        event; "he had a religious experience"; "he recalled the
        experience vividly"
     3: an event as apprehended; "a surprising experience"; "that
        painful experience certainly got our attention"
     v 1: go or live through; "We had many trials to go through"; "he
          saw action in Viet Nam" [syn: {undergo}, {see}, {go
          through}]
     2: have firsthand knowledge of states, situations, emotions, or
        sensations; "I know the feeling!"; "have you ever known
        hunger?"; "I have lived a kind of hell when I was a drug
        addict"; "The holocaust survivors have lived a nightmare";
        "I lived through two divorces" [syn: {know}, {live}]
     3: of mental or physical states or experiences; "get an idea";
        "experience vertigo"; "get nauseous"; "undergo a strange
        sensation"; "The chemical undergoes a sudden change"; "The
        fluid undergoes shear"; "receive injuries"; "have a
        feeling" [syn: {receive}, {have}, {get}, {undergo}]
     4: undergo an emotional sensation; "She felt resentful"; "He
        felt regret" [syn: {feel}]
     5: undergo; "The stocks had a fast run-up" [syn: {have}]