lab-rat

Noun

lab rat (plural lab rats)

1. (idiomatic) A student or employee who spends a great deal of time working in a laboratory.
   • As a graduate student, she loved being a “lab rat,” Dr. Blackburn said, adding, “I was just really focused on the science, the science, the science.”2013 April 8, Denise Grady, “Profiles in Science: Charting Her Own Course”, in New York Times, retrieved 20 Apr 2015

   Synonyms:

   guinea pig

2. (idiomatic) A person or group used as the subject of an experiment or test, especially unwillingly or unwittingly.
   • Tests were done on me that you can't even imagine. For years. Cerberus did them. They tortured me. They used me as a damn lab rat. And now you're teaming up with them like they're any other merc band?2010, BioWare, quoting Toombs, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: What the hell?