Link Centre Dictionary

test

US/tɛst/ very common informal slang
noun (6) verb (7)

noun

1.

any standardized procedure for measuring sensitivity or memory or intelligence or aptitude or personality etc

  • “the test was standardized on a large sample of students”
Synonyms
2.

the act of testing something

  • “in the experimental trials the amount of carbon was measured separately”
  • “he called each flip of the coin a new trial”
Synonyms
3.

the act of undergoing testing

  • “he survived the great test of battle”
  • “candidates must compete in a trial of skill”
Synonyms
4.

trying something to find out about it

  • “a sample for ten days free trial”
  • “a trial of progesterone failed to relieve the pain”
Synonyms
5.

a set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge

  • “when the test was stolen the professor had to make a new set of questions”
Synonyms
6.

a hard outer covering as of some amoebas and sea urchins

verb

1.

put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to

  • “This approach has been tried with good results”
  • “Test this recipe”
Synonyms
2.

test or examine for the presence of disease or infection

  • “screen the blood for the HIV virus”
Synonyms
3.

examine someone''s knowledge of something

  • “The teacher tests us every week”
  • “We got quizzed on French irregular verbs”
Synonyms
4.

show a certain characteristic when tested

  • “He tested positive for HIV”
5.

achieve a certain score or rating on a test

  • “She tested high on the LSAT and was admitted to all the good law schools”
6.

determine the presence or properties of (a substance)

7.

undergo a test

  • “She doesn”

Origin

From Middle English test, teste, from Old French test, teste (“an earthen vessel, especially a pot in which metals were tried”), from Latin testum (“the lid of an earthen vessel, an earthen vessel, an earthen pot”), from *terstus, past participle of the root *tersa (“dry land”). See terra, thirst. The examination sense came via metaphor of the metallurgical sense: the way a metallurgist puts to the test his gold, a teacher may put to the test her students' knowledge. Displaced Old English afandung.

Phrases

  • A/B test
  • Abel test
  • acceptance test
  • air puff test
  • alpha test
  • alternating series test
  • ball-on-three-balls test
  • Becchi's test
  • boil the ocean
  • do the hard yards
  • have a mountain to climb
  • test out

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.