rehearsal

Etymology

rehearse + -al

noun

1. The practicing 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.
   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. 1961 November, “Talking of Trains: "Blue trains" run again”, in Trains Illustrated, page 644
2. A preparatory activity analogous to the rehearsal of a show.
   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.