Definitions for: Test


[n] 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"
[n] the act of undergoing testing; "he survived the great test of battle"; "candidates must compete in a trial of skill"
[n] any standardized procedure for measuring sensitivity or memory or intelligence or aptitude etc; "the test was standardized on a large sample of students"
[n] a hard outer covering as of some amoebas and sea urchins
[n] an assay conducted for diagnostic purposes
[n] trying something to find out about it; "a sample for ten days free trial"; "a trial of progesterone failed to relieve the pain"
[n] 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"
[v] undergo a test; "She doesn't test well"
[v] examine someone's knowledge of something; "The teacher tests us every week"; "We got quizzed on French irregular verbs"
[v] determine the presence or properties of (a substance)
[v] achieve a certain score or rating on a test; "She tested high on the LSAT and was admitted to all the good law schools"
[v] put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to; "This approach has been tried with good results"; "Test this recipe"
[v] test or examine for the presence of disease or infection; "screen the blood for the HIV virus"
[v] show a certain characteristic when tested; "He tested positive for HIV"



Webster (1913) Definition: Test, n. [OE. test test, or cupel, potsherd, F. t[^e]t,
from L. testum an earthen vessel; akin to testa a piece of
burned clay, an earthen pot, a potsherd, perhaps for tersta,
and akin to torrere to patch, terra earth (cf. Thirst, and
Terrace), but cf. Zend tasta cup. Cf. Test a shell,
Testaceous, Tester a covering, a coin, Testy,
T[^e]te-[`a]-t[^e]te.]
1. (Metal.) A cupel or cupelling hearth in which precious
metals are melted for trial and refinement.

Our ingots, tests, and many mo. --Chaucer.

2. Examination or trial by the cupel; hence, any critical
examination or decisive trial; as, to put a man's
assertions to a test. ``Bring me to the test.'' --Shak.

3. Means of trial; as, absence is a test of love.

Each test every light her muse will bear. --Dryden.

4. That with which anything is compared for proof of its
genuineness; a touchstone; a standard.

Life, force, and beauty must to all impart, At once
the source, and end, and test of art. --Pope.

5. Discriminative characteristic; standard of judgment;
ground of admission or exclusion.

Our test excludes your tribe from benefit. --Dryden.

6. Judgment; distinction; discrimination.

Who would excel, when few can make a test Betwixt
indifferent writing and the best? --Dryden.

7. (Chem.) A reaction employed to recognize or distinguish
any particular substance or constituent of a compound, as
the production of some characteristic precipitate; also,
the reagent employed to produce such reaction; thus, the
ordinary test for sulphuric acid is the production of a
white insoluble precipitate of barium sulphate by means of
some soluble barium salt.

Test act (Eng. Law), an act of the English Parliament
prescribing a form of oath and declaration against
transubstantiation, which all officers, civil and
military, were formerly obliged to take within six months
after their admission to office. They were obliged also to
receive the sacrament according to the usage of the Church
of England. --Blackstone.

Test object (Optics), an object which tests the power or
quality of a microscope or telescope, by requiring a
certain degree of excellence in the instrument to
determine its existence or its peculiar texture or
markings.

Test paper.
(a) (Chem.) Paper prepared for use in testing for certain
substances by being saturated with a reagent which
changes color in some specific way when acted upon by
those substances; thus, litmus paper is turned red by
acids, and blue by alkalies, turmeric paper is turned
brown by alkalies, etc.
(b) (Law) An instrument admitted as a standard or
comparison of handwriting in those jurisdictions in
which comparison of hands is permitted as a mode of
proving handwriting.

Test tube. (Chem.)
(a) A simple tube of thin glass, closed at one end, for
heating solutions and for performing ordinary
reactions.
(b) A graduated tube.

Syn: Criterion; standard; experience; proof; experiment;
trial.

Usage: Test, Trial. Trial is the wider term; test is a
searching and decisive trial. It is derived from the
Latin testa (earthen pot), which term was early
applied to the fining pot, or crucible, in which
metals are melted for trial and refinement. Hence the
peculiar force of the word, as indicating a trial or
criterion of the most decisive kind.

I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose
trial shall better publish his commediation.
--Shak.

Thy virtue, prince, has stood the test of
fortune, Like purest gold, that tortured in the
furnace, Comes out more bright, and brings forth
all its weight. --Addison.


Test, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tested; p. pr. & vb. n.
Testing.]
1. (Metal.) To refine, as gold or silver, in a test, or
cupel; to subject to cupellation.

2. To put to the proof; to prove the truth, genuineness, or
quality of by experiment, or by some principle or
standard; to try; as, to test the soundness of a
principle; to test the validity of an argument.

Experience is the surest standard by which to test
the real tendency of the existing constitution.
--Washington.

3. (Chem.) To examine or try, as by the use of some reagent;
as, to test a solution by litmus paper.


Test, n. [L. testis. Cf. Testament, Testify.]
A witness. [Obs.]

Prelates and great lords of England, who were for the
more surety tests of that deed. --Ld. Berners.


Test, v. i. [L. testari. See Testament.]
To make a testament, or will. [Obs.]


Test, Testa Tes"ta, n.; pl. E. Tests, L. Test[ae].
[L. testa a piece of burned clay, a broken piece of
earthenware, a shell. See Test a cupel.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) The external hard or firm covering of many
invertebrate animals.

Note: The test of crustaceans and insects is composed largely
of chitin; in mollusks it is composed chiefly of
calcium carbonate, and is called the shell.

2. (Bot.) The outer integument of a seed; the episperm, or
spermoderm.

Synonyms: diagnostic assay, diagnostic test, essay, exam, examination, examine, mental test, mental testing, prove, psychometric test, quiz, run, screen, trial, trial, trial run, try, try out, tryout

See Also: alpha test, ascertain, assay, attempt, audition, bar exam, bar examination, be, beta test, biopsy, check, check, check, clinical test, clinical trial, cloze procedure, cloze test, communicating, communication, control, cover, covering, determine, effort, endeavor, endeavour, entrance exam, entrance examination, exam paper, examination paper, examine, experiment, experimentation, faecal occult test, fecal occult test, field trial, field-test, final, final exam, final examination, find out, fitting, float, GI series, glucose tolerance test, intelligence test, IQ test, judge, learn, litmus test, mental measurement, midterm, midterm exam, midterm examination, Ministry of Transportation test, MOT, MOT test, natural covering, oral, oral exam, oral examination, Pap test, Papanicolaou test, personality test, pilot program, pilot project, PKU test, preclinical phase, preclinical test, preclinical trial, prelim, preliminary exam, preliminary examination, Queckenstedt's test, question sheet, quiz, radioactive iodine test, road test, Rubin test, score, see, skin test, smear test, stool test, submit, sub-test, take, test paper, tissue typing, trial balloon, tripos, try, trying on, try-on, tryout, undergo, verify, vital capacity, viva, viva voce, watch

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