Meaning of test in English

test

/test/ us

/test/

a way of discovering, by questions or practical activities, what someone knows, or what someone or something can do or is like:

The class are doing/having a spelling test today.

She had to take/do an aptitude test before she got the job.

a medical examination of part of your body in order to find out how healthy it is or what is happening with it:

a blood/urine test

an eye test

a pregnancy test

The doctors have done some tests to try and find out what's wrong with her.

an act of using something to find out if it is working correctly or how effective it is:

The new missiles are currently undergoing tests.

a situation that shows how good something is:

Driving on that icy road was a real test of my skill.

a test match :

Australia won the test by 197 runs.

More examplesFewer examples

We're revising algebra for the test tomorrow.
She scored 18 out of 20 in the spelling test.
She's been trying to pass her driving test for six years and she's finally succeeded.
The medical tests showed some variation in the baby's heart rate.
Candidates who are successful in the written test will be invited for an interview.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Exams, tests & exercises

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Medical examination

Testing, checking and experimenting

Competitions, & parts of competitions

Cricket

Idiom

put something to the test

test

verb

/test/ us

/test/

B2 [ T ]

to put something through a process in order to discover if it is safe, works correctly, etc., or if something is present in it:

The manufacturers are currently testing the new engine.

They tested her blood for signs of the infection.

[ T ]

to do a medical examination of part of someone's body or of a particular physical ability:

This exercise tests your reflexes.

I had my eyes tested.

[ I ]

to produce a particular result when tested, for example in a medical or other scientific test:

When they were given a test for HIV, none of the patients tested positive for it.

The cyclist tested negative for banned substances throughout his career.

The houses tested high for radon gas.

During the busy summer beach season, when thousands of people crowd the beach, the water has always tested clean.

B1 [ T ]

to give someone a set of questions, in order to measure their knowledge or ability:

Will you test me on the chemistry I've been learning?

Pupils are tested every half-term.

[ I ] mainly US

to perform in a particular way when answering a set of questions:

Nearly 90 percent of the school's eighth-graders tested proficient in math and reading last year.

He tested well and was put on the waiting list for a scholarship.

[ I ]

to be judged in a particular way when used somewhere or shown to someone:

The show tested well with viewers of all ages.

He said that none of the proposed voting systems had tested well in Ohio.

The original script was abandoned when it tested badly.

B2 [ T ]

If a situation tests someone, it proves how good, strong, etc. they are:

You will face a series of physical challenges that will test even the fittest and most determined.

That lecture really tested my powers of endurance, it was so boring.

More examplesFewer examples

The fire alarm is tested every week.
The drug is still being tested and will not go into commercial production for at least two years.
You need to have your eyesight tested.
This piece of equipment is used to test alcohol levels in the blood.
They test the car tyres on a motor racing circuit.
She was banned after testing positive for steroids.
The children were not allowed to attend school until they had tested negative for pertussis.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Testing, checking and experimenting

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Questioning people & asking questions in general

Proving and disproving

Idioms

test the keeper

test the water(s)

Phrasal verb

test something out

(Definition of test from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

test | American Dictionary

test

noun [ C ]

/test/

Add to word list Add to word list

a set of questions or practical activities that show what someone knows or what someone or something can do or is like:

a spelling test

A test is also a medical examination of part of your body or of something from your body:

an eye test

a DNA test

A test is also an act of using something to find out whether it is working correctly or how effective it is:

a safety test

Idiom

stand the test of time

test

verb [ T ]

/test/

to use a set of questions or practical activities to measure someone's knowledge and ability:

Multiple-choice questions tested the students’ knowledge.

To test something is to use it in order to find out whether it is working correctly or how effective it is:

We test every component we make.

To test people or things can also be to present them with a situation which shows how good they are at dealing with difficulties:

His generation was tested by a world war.

Idiom

test the water(s)

(Definition of test from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

test | Business English

test

noun [ C ]

/test/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

a set of questions or practical activities that are used to measure what someone or something can do or how much someone knows about something:

The tests showed I had excellent spatial awareness.

do/sit/take a test We have to take a test to get a real-estate broker's license.

pass/fail a test New agents have to complete an online training course and pass a test.

an act of doing something in order to discover if something is safe, works correctly, etc., or if something is present:

pass/fail a test The minivans all failed the safety tests.

a test for sth The material passed rigid tests for flammability.

a test on sth The tests on the toys found that they had dangerously high lead levels.

If tests show infection, computer users can try anti-virus software.

a situation that shows how good, strong, etc. someone or something is:

The ultimate test of a successful negotiation is when the agreement reached is implemented to the satisfaction of both parties.

The true test of a CEO comes during difficult times.

put sb/sth to the test

to find out or show how good someone or something is:

This new project will really put her to the test.

Examples of test

test

A quick-basic program was written to perform these tests, and was checked by comparison with hand calculations.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In 1997, a rice crop was grown without any treatment application to test for residual effects.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Note that even if we rely on purely structural tests, this is a problem.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

With bilingual pupils, the results of this quasimedical use of intelligence tests are exceedingly harmful.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The tone tests reinforced an aesthetic determined by technological reproduction.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It is clear that some quite abstract robot representations have usefully tested some quite specific biological hypotheses.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Table 3 also reports a test of the significance of the differences between the unadjusted and adjusted values.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The parent who requests a label does not ask to be enlightened, but to test and reinforce the child's lexicon.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This test did not reject the hypothesis of orthogonality so the estimation was done through a random effects model rather than a fixed effects model.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A small test flash was first used to center the stimulus over the receptive field by manually moving it to elicit a maximum response.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

For each of the two subexperiments, the receptive tests took place 2 weeks later.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This test contains 120 questions in which some words or suffixes had been removed.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

They were told to press one button if the target and test word corresponded and another one if they did not.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

There has been research on teaching techniques for young learners, but what task types are appropriate and efficient for testing children is an under-researched area.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Two hundred and ninety-seven people took part in the validity and reliability tests of the questionnaire.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of test

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with test

test

These are words often used in combination with test.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

atomic test

It details how highly radioactive cobalt-60 pellets were scattered over the range after a 1957 atomic test, and were later collected and buried.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

balancing test

Instead, he offers a more sophisticated balancing test that is designed to criminalize offense more sparingly.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

benchmark test

For a typical benchmark test example, a rapidly stable numerical solution is achieved using the parameter free procedures in less than 10 iterations.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with test

What is the pronunciation of test?

Translations of test

in Chinese (Traditional)

測驗，考查, （體格）檢查, 化驗…

Meaning of test in English

Idiom

Idioms

Phrasal verb

test | American Dictionary

Idiom

Idiom

test | Business English

See also

See also

Examples of test

Collocations with test

test

Translations of test

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