DictionaryAI

test

TEST/tɛst/

Verbtests, testing, tested

Noun pluraltests

20 meanings of test

Practice

  1. 1
    try outverbtransitive
    To try out or examine something, often under real or extreme conditions, to find out how well it works, whether it is genuine, or whether it meets a standard.

    Engineers test each design against strict safety standards.

    We need to test whether the theory holds up under real conditions.

    UsageThe standard usually follows by or against: test a design against safety rules.

    Similartry, check, examine, evaluate, assess

    Note

    The general verb of proof usually takes an abstract object: the soundness of a principle, the validity of an argument. George Washington's Farewell Address (1796) calls experience "the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution". When the object is a substance, the chemist's meaning takes over.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • George Washington's Farewell Address was first published in 1796. guides.loc.gov
    • The address calls experience the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution. mountvernon.org
  2. 2
    examnouncountable
    A set of questions or tasks used to measure a person's knowledge or ability, such as a school exam, a driving test or an IQ test.

    The professor scheduled the first test for the third week of classes.

    Students complained that the test covered material from outside the syllabus.

    UsageStudents take a test (not incorrect: make a test) and pass or fail it; a teacher gives one.

    Similarexam, examination, quiz, assessment

    Note

    The schoolroom test takes its name from the furnace. Old French teste was the earthen pot in which metals were tried, the assayer's melting hearth, and a class facing a test is being assayed in much the same spirit.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The examination sense of test developed metaphorically from its metallurgical sense. en.wiktionary.org
    • English test derives through Middle English from Old French test or teste, meaning an earthen vessel used to assay metals. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    nouncountable
    A procedure or standard by which a fact is established, something is measured, or a requirement is judged to be met or not.

    The court applied a three-part test to decide whether the search was reasonable.

    The only real test of a recipe is whether people ask for seconds.

    UsageA plan passes, meets or fails a test. Often the real test of something, or the acid test.

    Similarmeasure, standard, criterion, yardstick

    Note

    Here the test is a yardstick rather than an event. Courts apply a legal test with set parts, and everyday speech says the real test of something is whether it works. The acid test and the litmus test are the vivid versions, borrowed from chemistry.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Courts apply legal tests with specified parts. law.cornell.edu
    • The figurative expression “acid test” derives from chemical testing. en.wiktionary.org
    • The figurative expression “litmus test” derives from chemical testing. en.wikipedia.org
  4. 4
    nouncountable
    An examination of a product, piece of equipment, or system under normal or extreme conditions to assess its durability or similar qualities.

    Engineers put the new battery through a test under freezing conditions to check its durability.

    Each prototype undergoes a rigorous test before it reaches the market.

    UsageEngineers run or carry out a test on a product, and it passes or fails.

    Similartrial, evaluation, assessment, check, inspection

    Note

    The engineer's meaning, and the one behind the warning formula this is not a test. A test is the rehearsal, so denying it means the real thing has arrived. "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero" (1986) turns that line into dark comedy about the bomb. For the act of running such a trial, English uses the verb for trying things out.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • “This is not a test” is an emergency warning distinguishing an actual event from a trial. mil.wa.gov
    • “Christmas at Ground Zero” is a song by “Weird Al” Yankovic released in 1986. en.wikipedia.org
    • The song includes the warning “This is not a test.” yankovic.org
    • The song’s dark comedy concerns nuclear destruction. esquire.com
  5. 5
    nouncountable
    A medical examination of a person, or of a blood, urine or other sample, carried out to check their health or detect a disease or substance.

    Her flu test came back negative, but she stayed home anyway.

    Athletes face random drug tests throughout the season.

    UsagePatients have or get a test and doctors order one: a blood test, a drug test.

    Similarscreening

    Note

    Medical tests are named by what they look for or what they sample: a blood test, a flu test, a drug test, a pregnancy test. Many results come back positive or negative, and here positive means the thing was found, which is often bad news.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • A positive result means the test found what it was looking for, which can indicate disease. medlineplus.gov
  6. 6
    challengeverbtransitive
    To challenge something or someone by putting them under strain.

    Sudden setbacks test a team's ability to stay focused.

    The crisis tested the new manager's patience to the limit.

    UsageCommon in test someone's patience and test something to the limit.

    Similartry, tax, strain, challenge, stretch

  7. 7
    challengenouncountable
    A challenge or difficult situation that reveals someone's strength, character, or ability.

    The crisis became a test of the leader's resolve.

    Living abroad alone proved a genuine test of his independence.

    UsageUsually followed by of: a test of courage, a test of nerve.

    Similartrial, challenge, measure, ordeal

    Note

    Every trial meaning of the word goes back to a pot. Old French test was an earthen vessel in which metals were tried, from Latin testum, an earthen pot. The refiner's vessel is that pot itself, and the figurative trial grew from it. A person under test is, in the old image, metal in the fire.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The trial and examination senses developed metaphorically from testing metals in a vessel. en.wiktionary.org
    • Old French test denoted an earthen vessel, especially one used to try metals. en.wiktionary.org
    • Old French test derives from Latin testum, meaning an earthen pot. en.wiktionary.org
    • Test denotes the refiner's vessel itself, from which the broader trial meaning developed. fr.wiktionary.org
  8. 8
    read positiveverbintransitive
    To be shown by examination to have a particular quality or condition.

    Several samples test negative when the contamination is low.

    She tested positive for the antibody after the second round.

    UsageFollowed by a result, often with for: test positive for a virus. Not used in the passive (not incorrect: was tested positive).

  9. 9
    verbtransitive
    To give or assign an examination to someone, often during the academic term, to measure their knowledge.

    Instructors test their students at the midpoint of each semester.

    The professor tested the class on the entire reading list.

    UsageThe subject matter follows on: test the class on chapter four.

    Similarexamine, quiz, assess

  10. 10
    verbtransitive
    To examine or try a substance, as by using a chemical reagent.

    Chemists test the solution with litmus to check its acidity.

    The lab tested the sample for traces of arsenic.

    UsageWhat you look for follows for, the means with: test water for lead, test it with litmus.

    Similaranalyze, examine, check, assay

  11. 11
    cricket matchnouncountable
    A top-level international match between national teams, especially in cricket, where it is played over up to five days, or in rugby.

    Rain interrupted play on the third day of the Test.

    The bowler took ten wickets in the Test.

    UsageUsually written with a capital: a Test, the first Test, short for a Test match.

    Note

    Cricket normally gives this meaning a capital: a Test, short for a Test match. It names the longest form of international cricket, normally scheduled for up to five days between two national sides, with each side allotted two innings. That structure is what sets it apart from the limited-overs formats.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of test apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–12, 14–17

Latin testum ("an earthen pot"), perhaps ultimately from a root meaning "dry land" (compare terra, thirst), gave Old French test, teste, an earthen vessel and especially one used for trying metals, which became Middle English test, teste. The meaning of an examination is a metaphor from metalwork: a teacher tries students' knowledge the way a metalworker tries gold. The biological sense of a hard outer covering comes directly from the related Latin testa ("earthenware, shell").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

  • Latin testum meant an earthen pot. en.wiktionary.org
  • A proposed ultimate origin connects testum with a form meaning dry land, comparable with terra and thirst. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin testum passed through Old French test, teste, meaning an earthen vessel, especially one for trying metals, into Middle English test, teste. en.wiktionary.org
  • The examination meaning developed metaphorically from the testing of metals, illustrated by comparing a teacher examining knowledge with a metalworker trying gold. en.wiktionary.org
  • The biological term derives from Latin testa. en.wikipedia.org
  • Latin testa meant earthenware and shell. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin testum and testa are related. en.wiktionary.org
Meanings 18–20

Latin testis ("one who attests, a witness") and Old French teste, test lie behind Middle English teste.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts