meta-analysis

noun

meta-anal·​y·​sis ˌme-tə-ə-ˈna-lə-səs 

: a quantitative statistical analysis of several separate but similar experiments or studies in order to test the pooled data for statistical significance

Examples of meta-analysis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even such modest bumps last one to three trading days, according to academic research such as Stock investors’ reaction to layoff announcements: A meta-analysis. —Peter Cohan, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025

According to a 2017 meta-analysis, sleeping substantially more or less than the seven-hour optimum was shown to put people at greater risk of death. —Sharon Basaraba, Verywell Health, 28 July 2025

The team points out that any increase in daily step count was associated with some health improvements, dovetailing with another meta-analysis on step count carried out in 2023 that showed that even just 4,000 steps per day were enough to boost your health. —New Atlas, 26 July 2025

March saw a meta-analysis come out from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) on 12 studies examining more than 75 million cases to investigate heart attack risk in weed users. —Kevin Sabet, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for meta-analysis

• haemodialysis
• hemodialysis
• microanalysis
• psychoanalysis
• analysis
• dialysis
• paralysis
• cryptanalysis
• urinalysis
• electrodialysis

Medical Definition

meta-analysis

noun

meta-anal·​y·​sis ˌmet-ə-ə-ˈnal-ə-səs 

: quantitative statistical analysis that is applied to separate but similar experiments of different and usually independent researchers and that involves pooling the data and using the pooled data to test the effectiveness of the results

the report … on low cholesterol presented a comprehensive meta-analysis of 32 randomized studies involving 42,000 individuals

—Scientific American Medicine Bulletin