adj. & n.
adj. 1 allowing or assisting to discover. 2 Computing proceeding to a solution by trial and error.
n. 1 the science of heuristic procedure. 2 a heuristic process or method. 3 (in pl., usu. treated as sing.) Computing the study and use of heuristic techniques in data processing. heuristic method a system of education under which pupils are trained to find out things for themselves. heuristically adv.
[ irreg. f. Gk heurisko find ]