1
a
: a means of testing: such as
(1)
: something (such as a series of questions or exercises) for measuring the skill, knowledge, intelligence, capacities, or aptitudes of an individual or group
(2)
: a procedure, reaction, or reagent used to identify or characterize a substance or constituent
b
: a positive result in such a test
2
a(1)
: a critical examination, observation, or evaluation : trial
specifically
: the procedure of submitting a statement to such conditions or operations as will lead to its proof or disproof or to its acceptance or rejection
a test of a statistical hypothesis
(2)
: a basis for evaluation : criterion
b
: an ordeal or oath required as proof of conformity with a set of beliefs
c
chiefly British
: cupel
3
: a result or value determined by testing
4
tested; testing; tests
1
: to put to test or proof : try
—often used with out
2
: to require a doctrinal oath of
1
a
: to undergo a test
b
: to be assigned a standing or evaluation on the basis of tests
tested positive for cocaine
the cake tested done
2
: to apply a test as a means of analysis or diagnosis
—used with for
test for mechanical aptitude
1
: of, relating to, or constituting a test
2
: subjected to, used for, or revealed by testing
a test group
test data
: an external hard or firm covering (such as a shell) of many invertebrates (such as a foraminifer or a mollusk)
Synonyms
Examples of test in a Sentence
Verb
Weekly quizzes will test your understanding of the material.
The students will all be tested again at the end of the school year.
The school nurse will be testing students' hearing next week.
She tested positive for the disease.
The water gets tested regularly.
Recent Examples on the Web
S. I. Rosenbaum, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2024
Crumble Smith recommends testing your blood sugar levels after an hour and a half to two hours to see how your body responds.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 7 Apr. 2024
But that depth has been tested by injury issues throughout the season.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2024
It is tested by independent labs for safety and efficacy.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2024
She’s researched thousands of baby products, toys, gifts, and more and personally tested many of them.
—Maya Polton, Parents, 6 Apr. 2024
Less than one week after a Texas dairy worker tested positive for the second-ever bird flu case in the United States, at least five other states have also reported the virus in dairy cow populations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
—Irene Wright, Kansas City Star, 5 Apr. 2024
Illinois and Iowa are already permanently test optional, while Michigan and Minnesota are largely test optional.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, Journal Sentinel, 5 Apr. 2024
Read on to discover our picks for the best carry-on luggage that PEOPLE tested.
—Cai Cramer, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024
Nicole Asbury, Washington Post, 6 July 2022
Our testers evaluated and recorded their pre-test teeth color using the VITA Guide, brushed with the toothpastes as directed for several weeks, and then reevaluated teeth color.
—Danielle Zoellner, Verywell Health, 31 Jan. 2023
Vault runs many of the state's testing sites and its mail-order testing program, and coordinates billing, logistics, physician services and post-test communications.
—Joe Carlson, Star Tribune, 14 July 2021
For the first time, basic language from biostatistics, such as specificity, sensitivity, and pre-test probabilities, found its way into normal conversation.
—Shantanu Nundy, STAT, 17 June 2021
There's a reason child psychologists encourage children to express their feelings through drawings, teachers use coloring activities to conquer pre-test jitters and some dentists use coloring before appointments to ease dental anxiety.
—Dana Santas, CNN, 7 May 2021
The first step in using Bayes’s formula is to assign a number to my pre-test suspicions.
—Clayton Dalton, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2020
But Mungo said a more diverse applicant pool will not help if entry tests and post-test screening is skewed.
—Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 4 June 2020
Eighteen of 25 subjects (72%) complimented the flavour, smooth texture and pleasant aftertaste of the Fudge-o-grafin and 1 (4%) requested more with which to wash down the post-test pie.
—Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 12 July 2011
Jon Hamilton, NPR, 9 Apr. 2024
Most of these occurred in the first month after my diagnosis, which was a flurry of tests, procedures and doctor’s appointments.
—Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
Between 1991 and 2008, researchers checked in with participants every four to seven years to take blood and assess factors such as diet and results from neurocognitive tests.
—Lauren Manaker Ms, Rdn, Health, 9 Apr. 2024
The final designs must also be able to support two fully suited astronauts and operate both manually and without anyone in the driver’s seat, allowing NASA to lead remote tests and explorations if there are no astronauts available.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Apr. 2024
His Biden-will-win prediction is his next big test.
—Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
The screening goes beyond the physicals that student athletes are usually required to complete, consisting of a study of students’ family history, an EKG test and a check of their blood pressure.
—Isha Trivedi, The Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2024
If a definitive cause of death cannot be determined by an autopsy — something that happens about 30 percent of the time — pathologists will order microscopic, chemical, or toxicological tests to help find the answer.
—Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Apr. 2024
Not all bonds survive the test of time or change, and even the best friendships can go through fallow periods.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Verb
At least six different companies are now testing applications such as desktop interfaces (like the one that helped Arbaugh play chess), drivers for robotic limbs and exoskeletons, and even speech prostheses that give voice to thought.
—S. I. Rosenbaum, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2024
Crumble Smith recommends testing your blood sugar levels after an hour and a half to two hours to see how your body responds.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 7 Apr. 2024
But that depth has been tested by injury issues throughout the season.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2024
It is tested by independent labs for safety and efficacy.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2024
She’s researched thousands of baby products, toys, gifts, and more and personally tested many of them.
—Maya Polton, Parents, 6 Apr. 2024
Less than one week after a Texas dairy worker tested positive for the second-ever bird flu case in the United States, at least five other states have also reported the virus in dairy cow populations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
—Irene Wright, Kansas City Star, 5 Apr. 2024
Illinois and Iowa are already permanently test optional, while Michigan and Minnesota are largely test optional.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, Journal Sentinel, 5 Apr. 2024
Read on to discover our picks for the best carry-on luggage that PEOPLE tested.
—Cai Cramer, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024
Adjective
The average fifth-grade teacher in Montgomery County spends one out of five days in the school year dealing with test prep, testing and post-test data collection.
—Nicole Asbury, Washington Post, 6 July 2022
Our testers evaluated and recorded their pre-test teeth color using the VITA Guide, brushed with the toothpastes as directed for several weeks, and then reevaluated teeth color.
—Danielle Zoellner, Verywell Health, 31 Jan. 2023
Vault runs many of the state's testing sites and its mail-order testing program, and coordinates billing, logistics, physician services and post-test communications.
—Joe Carlson, Star Tribune, 14 July 2021
For the first time, basic language from biostatistics, such as specificity, sensitivity, and pre-test probabilities, found its way into normal conversation.
—Shantanu Nundy, STAT, 17 June 2021
There's a reason child psychologists encourage children to express their feelings through drawings, teachers use coloring activities to conquer pre-test jitters and some dentists use coloring before appointments to ease dental anxiety.
—Dana Santas, CNN, 7 May 2021
The first step in using Bayes’s formula is to assign a number to my pre-test suspicions.
—Clayton Dalton, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2020
But Mungo said a more diverse applicant pool will not help if entry tests and post-test screening is skewed.
—Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 4 June 2020
Eighteen of 25 subjects (72%) complimented the flavour, smooth texture and pleasant aftertaste of the Fudge-o-grafin and 1 (4%) requested more with which to wash down the post-test pie.
—Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 12 July 2011
Noun
And if hormones from a sibling were enough to confound an experiment, so might lots of other subtle factors, like the mouse strain used in an experiment, the kind of test used to measure BPA or the possibility that trace amounts of BPA had contaminated an experiment.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 9 Apr. 2024
Most of these occurred in the first month after my diagnosis, which was a flurry of tests, procedures and doctor’s appointments.
—Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
Between 1991 and 2008, researchers checked in with participants every four to seven years to take blood and assess factors such as diet and results from neurocognitive tests.
—Lauren Manaker Ms, Rdn, Health, 9 Apr. 2024
The final designs must also be able to support two fully suited astronauts and operate both manually and without anyone in the driver’s seat, allowing NASA to lead remote tests and explorations if there are no astronauts available.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Apr. 2024
His Biden-will-win prediction is his next big test.
—Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
The screening goes beyond the physicals that student athletes are usually required to complete, consisting of a study of students’ family history, an EKG test and a check of their blood pressure.
—Isha Trivedi, The Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2024
If a definitive cause of death cannot be determined by an autopsy — something that happens about 30 percent of the time — pathologists will order microscopic, chemical, or toxicological tests to help find the answer.
—Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Apr. 2024
Not all bonds survive the test of time or change, and even the best friendships can go through fallow periods.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'test.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near test
Cite this Entry
“Test.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/test. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
test
1 of 3 noun1
: a means of finding out the nature, quality, or value of something
put the new car to the test
2
: a procedure or method for identifying something
a test for starch
allergy tests
3
: a set of questions or problems designed to find out a person's knowledge, skills, or intelligence
4
: a result of or rating based on a test
uses 80-pound test fishing line
test
2 of 3 verb1
: to put to test or proof : try
test out your strength
2
a
: to take part in a test
actors testing for roles in the play
b
: to achieve or be assigned a rating on the basis of tests
the class tested high in math
3
: to use tests as a way to analyze or identify
test for copper
testable
adjective
ˈtes-tə-bəl
test
3 of 3 noun
: a firm or rigid covering (as a shell) of many invertebrates
Medical Definition
test
1 of 3 noun1
: a critical examination, observation, evaluation, or trial
specifically
: the procedure of submitting a statement to such conditions or operations as will lead to its proof or disproof or to its acceptance or rejection
a test of a statistical hypothesis
2
: a means of testing: as
a(1)
: a procedure or reaction used to identify or characterize a substance or constituent
a test for starch using iodine
(2)
: a reagent used in such a test
b
: a diagnostic procedure for determining the presence or nature of a condition or disease or for revealing a change in function
c
: something (as a series of questions or exercises) for measuring the skill, knowledge, intelligence, capacities, or aptitudes of an individual or group
3
: a result or value determined by testing
test
2 of 3 transitive verb
: to subject to a test
1
: to undergo a test
2
: to apply a test as a means of analysis or diagnosis
—used with for
test for the presence of starch
test
3 of 3 adjective1
: of, relating to, or constituting a test
the test environment affected the scores
2
: subjected to, used for, or revealed by testing
test substances
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