| 释义 |
▪ I. test, n.1|tɛst|
Forms: 4–5 pl. testes, -is, 6 teste, taest, 7 tast, teast, 6– test.
[a. OF. test masc., a pot (12th c.), mod.F. têt a cupel, etc.:—L. testum, testu neut., collateral form of testa a tile, earthen vessel, pot. In OF. test and teste (L. testa) were sometimes confused, and teste sometimes occurs in 15–16th c. Eng. In modern use, treated mainly as noun of action from test v.2]
1. orig. The cupel used in treating gold or silver alloys or ore; now esp. the cupel, with the iron frame or basket which contains it, forming the movable hearth of a reverberatory furnace: see cupel n. 1.
c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 265 Of oure siluer citrinacion..Oure yngottes testes and many mo. 1552in P. H. Hore Wexford (1901) II. 237 Of 1031 lbs. weight of lead they had from the taest 14 lbs. weight of silver. 1555Eden Decades W. Ind. vi. 339 Meltynge it [gold] in a fornace in a bayne or teste of leade. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 36 Get a large panne, such as they make their testes of bone ashes in. 1622Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 281 The Copple or Teast doth drinke in some two penny weight of Siluer with the Lead. 1674Ray Collect. Wds., Smelting Silver (E.D.S.) 9 The test is of an oval figure, and occupies all the bottom of the furnace. 1758Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 315 Put one half of this Lead into a test, and spread it equally thereon. 1853Ure Dict. Arts II. 657 The bed or bottom of the furnace, when in operation, is formed by a shallow elliptical vessel, called a test or test-bottom. 1877Knight Dict. Mech. 2535/2 The test is fixed as a cupeling-hearth in the reverberatory furnace.
2. a. That by which the existence, quality, or genuineness of anything is or may be determined; ‘means of trial’ (J.); hence, in phrases to bring or put to the test, to bear or stand the test, the testing or trial of the quality of anything; examination, trial, proof.
(Cf.1651French Distill. v. 138 Prove this tree at the test, and it yeeldeth good gold. 1661Blount Glossogr. (ed. 2) s.v., A broad instrument..on which Refiners do fine, refine and part gold and silver from other Mettals, or (as we use to say) put them to the Test. )
1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. 40 A delicate wench..which I would faine haue had to the grand test, whether she were cunning in Alcumie or no. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 142 It is not madnesse That I have vttered; bring me to the Test. 1610― Temp. iv. i. 7 Thou Hast strangely stood the test. 1754Chatham Lett. Nephew iv. 25 The noblest sentiment of the human breast is here brought to the test. 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 11 Simple tests of the relative nourishing powers of the different species of food. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 148 Invaluable maxims which have borne the test of time. 1838James Robber iv, I will not put them to the test. 1873Symonds Grk. Poets iii. 89 Time, says Theognis, and experience and calamity are the true tests of friendship. 1904Nicholson Keltic Researches Pref. 4 Even as between the Irishman and the Welshman, the language-test is not a race-test.
†b. A proof, sample, specimen. Obs. rare.
1769Cook Voy. round World ii. iii. (1773) II. 328 Rather satisfied with having given a test of their courage by twice insulting a vessel so much superior to their own, than intimidated by the shot.
c. Cricket and Rugby Football. Short for test-match: see 7 b. In S. Afr., an international match in any of a wide range of games and sports, including Rugby.
1908Westm. Gaz. 16 Jan. 7/1 England is now a game to the bad, and there are only two more ‘Tests’ to play. 1909Ibid. 6 Sept. 10/4 We are to play sixteen matches in all, including five Tests. 1933M. Nicholls in I. D. Difford Hist. S. Afr. Rugby Football xxiv. 336 In the first Test we won 16 scrums to their 36. 1934[see Buckley's]. 1954R. T. Gabe in Wooller & Owen Fifty Years of All Blacks i. 14 We travelled over land and a rough sea..to play a Test in Wellington..to lose by 9 points to 3. 1955[see deputize v. 2]. 1971Rand Daily Mail 4 Sept. 24/7 A series of diving Tests have been arranged against Rhodesia. 1972Daily Tel. 14 Dec. 35/5 A week off before an international, or Test as we call them, is preferable to a mid-week match [New Zealander loq.].
3. That by which beliefs or opinions, esp. in religion, are tested or tried; spec. the oaths or declarations prescribed by the Test Act of 1673; esp. in phrase to take the test; also, either of the test acts.
1665Sp. Speaker Ho. Comm. to King 31 Oct. in Lords Jrnls. XI. 700/1 We have prepared a Shiboleth a Test to distinguish amongst them, who..give Hopes of future Conformity, and who of..evil Disposition remain obdurate. 1672–3(Mar. 12) in Grey's Deb. Ho. Comm. II. 97 [Mr. Harwood] Tendered a proviso for renouncing the doctrine of transubstantiation for a farther test. 1675(May 10) Calr. St. Papers, Dom., Chas. II 112 The Test as now agreed on:—I, A. B., do declare [etc.]. 1682in Scott. Antiq. July (1901) 4 One of the late regentis..having demurred to take the test apoynted by act of parliament. a1715Burnet Own Time an. 1685 iv. (1724) I. 654 The King..had declared that he would be served by none but those who would vote for the repeal of the Tests. 1789Constitution U.S. Art. vi, No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office. 1797Hey Lect. Div. II. iii. xiv. §15. 155 A Man is deemed a Member of the Church of England, who takes the Sacrament according to the usage of the Church of England, and declares against Transubstantiation; from whence the Tests are called sacramental tests. 1889Pall Mall G. 3 July 2/2 The Government promised last night to abolish tests in the case of the ‘lay chairs’ in the Scotch universities. 1906H. Paul in 19th Cent. May 717 The belief in tests ought to be dead as the belief in witches.
4. a. Chem. The action or process of examining a substance under known conditions in order to determine its identity or that of one of its constituents; also, a substance by means of which this may be done.
1800Henry Epit. Chem. (1808) 322 The readiest method of judging of the contents of natural waters, is by applying what are termed tests, or re-agents. 1812[see reagent 1]. 1854J. Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc., Chem. 479 Arseniuretted hydrogen..employed, as a means of removing and discovering arsenic, is called Marsh's test. 1900Briggs & Stewart Inorg. Chem. Gen. Direct., The student is advised to learn the tests for each metal and acid. 1900Shenstone Elem. Inorg. Chem. xxv. §396 A solution of baryta affords us a most delicate test for carbon dioxide.
b. Mechanics, etc. The action by which the physical properties of substances, materials, machines, etc. are tested, in order to determine their ability to satisfy particular requirements.
Among these are bending test, compressive t., drop t., tensile t., transverse t., etc.; also with n. in objective relation, as boiler test, brake test, engine test; also road test.
1877Knight Dict. Mech. 2539 Observations are made at short intervals..until the test is closed by rapid heating..and excessive increase of friction. 1884Ibid., Suppl. 888 The machine requires but little change for making tests in compression. 1894Lineham Mech. Engin. 376 The straining cylinder, having water admitted beneath its piston for tensile, and above it for compressive tests. 1904Kent's Mech. Engin. Pocket Bk. (1910) 282 In Transverse tests the strength of bars of rectangular section is found to vary directly as the breadth of the specimen tested, as the square of its depth, and inversely as its length. Ibid. 864 Competitive tests were made of fourteen boilers. 1956[see nuclear a. 3 c]. 1958Economist 8 Nov. 481/2 Russia is trying to make the West agree to a ban on tests. 1968[see M.O.T. s.v. M 5]. 1976Star (Sheffield) 30 Nov. 12/6 Up to {pstlg}50 paid for scrap and test failure cars and vans.
c. The process or an instance of testing the academic, mental, physiological, or other qualities and conditions of a human subject; in academic and similar contexts usu. implying a simpler, less formal procedure than an examination; freq. as the second element in a collocation or combination denoting a particular kind of test, or used contextually to imply one of these.
A number of other collocations and combinations will be found under the first element, as aptitude, blood, breath, intelligence, means, mental, performance, pregnancy, screen, skin, spot test.
1910, etc. [see Binet-Simon]. 1918[see proficiency test s.v. proficiency 3]. 1927[see personality test s.v. personality 7]. 1928Sunday Dispatch 22 July 4/2 He had had a film test, at the conclusion of which he was told that he filmed remarkably well. 1933[see driving vbl. n. 3 a]. a1935[see fitness]. 1941B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? xi. 198 I'm getting fed up with these floosies you're always promising..a day's work or a test [i.e. a screen test]. 1955E. H. Clements Discord in Air xi. 149 Mummy always drives. I haven't taken my test yet. 1959[see pass-fail a.]. 1960[see breathalyser]. 1968[see I.Q. s.v. I. III].
d. Austral. and N.Z. a test for the proportion of butter fat in milk.
1928Bulletin (Sydney) 14 Mar. 32/1 ‘You should be proud of her,’ said I... ‘My oath I am!’ he made reply—‘She gives an eight-five test!’ 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Mar. 270/2 Several [milk] cans can be filled at the same time so that the tests of all cans are, as far as practicable, identical. 1966G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. Austral. & N.Z. iii. 45 A cow with ‘a good test’, that is, milk rich in butter⁓fat, may be more valuable than another cow that gives more milk.
5. Microscopy. A test object: see 7 b.
1832Goring in Pritchard Microsc. Cabinet xviii. 175 A test is an object which serves to render sensible both the perfection and imperfection of an instrument, as to defining and penetrating power. 1837Goring & Pritchard Microgr. 160 A..representation of an excellent and very beautiful test, a feather from the wing of Morpho Menelaüs, (being the first object in which I observed the very remarkable property of the lines as tests).
6. An apparatus for determining the flash-point of hydrocarbon oils.
1877Knight Dict. Mech., Test,..4. An apparatus for proving petroleum and similar hydrocarbon oils by ascertaining the temperature at which they evolve explosive vapours.
7. attrib. and Comb.
a. General combs.: ‘of or pertaining to a test’, ‘taken, done, or made as a test’; as, in sense 2 a, test-bar, test-ground, test-log (log n.1 7), test-plaster, test question, test-room, test-run, test-sentence, test symptom, test-tree, test-valve, test-work; in sense 2 c, test batsman, test captain, test cricket, test cricketer, test team, test trial; in sense 3, test-formula, test-law, test-man, test-monger, test-oath; also test-free, test-ridden adjs.; in sense 4, test-anxiety, test bottle, test certificate, test-liquid, test-liquor, test performance, test-phial, test-solution, test-spoon, test-stirrer.
1972Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 155 Few studies have examined the relationship of birth order to *test anxiety.
1976Dexter & Makins Testkill 139 The *Test batsman, even after net practice, is still forced to use the first few overs in the middle as a warm-up.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 71 We pour into the *test bottle 2 thousandths of the decime solution of silver.
1975Cricketer May 8/1 Ian Michael Chappell, the activist of *Test captains, has led Australia in 26 Tests in four countries.
1976Alyn & Deeside Observer 10 Dec. 10/2 He did not have an excise licence, a driving licence or a *test certificate.
1931J. B. Hobbs (title) Playing for England! My *test-cricket story. 1959M. Gilbert Blood & Judgement iii. 36 In September a *test cricketer was still news.
1890Tablet 5 July 14 A *test-ground for the historian.
1687Reasons to Move Protest. Dissenters 3 You cannot say it is a Divine Law that requir'd the Parliament to make this *Test-Law... To abolish the Test-Laws therefore is Lawful.
1862Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xiii. 12 Apparatus for centigrade testing,..preparation of the *test liquors.
1904Electr. World & Engin. 9 Jan. 90 (Cent. Suppl.) A typical *test-log upon a 550-hp engine.
1693Shadwell Volunteers iii. i, A furious agitator and *test-man.
1687Reasons for Repeal of Tests 4 In the Year 1675 the same Test was set on Foot in Parliament, by the *Test-Mongers, with design to have made it more Extensive.
1715–16in J. O. Payne Eng. Cath. Nonjurors of 1715 (1885) 9, I cannot take the *Test and Abjuration Oaths enjoined by Acts of Parliament. 1863H. Cox Instit. iii. viii. 718 In consequence of his inability to take the test-oath.
1942Mind LI. 175 A factor which improves certain *test-performances when it is not merely absent, but actually negative.
1909Service for the King May 103 The heat is gauged by the potters..who place in the oven test-pieces of pottery, which can be drawn out.
1897Daily News 19 Jan. 3/6 Continued movement of the front is manifested by the cracking of *test plaster put in the fractured groining..six months ago.
1867Furniv. & Hales Percy Folio I. 247 The *test question put to the page before the assignation is disclosed.
1889Pall Mall G. 3 July 2/2 This is why..English *test-ridden Theology lags so much behind German.
1905Westm. Gaz. 20 Sept. 8/1 The methods of the *test⁓room are being applied..to the degree of moisture quicker methods involve.
1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 302 A *test-run made upon about three tons showed it to contain 51 ounces of silver and 41 per cent. of lead per ton.
1901Kipling Kim x. 262 Kim repeated the *test-sentence. 1977Word 1972 XXVIII. 104 There were 15 test sentences in the battery in which the English strongly suggested the use of a diminutive ending in Gaelic.
1871Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 428 The volumetric solutions of nitrate of silver and of iodine are also made use of as *test-solutions for qualitative analysis.
1955Radio Times 22 Apr. 31/2 The *Test Team arrived in this country at the beginning of the week.
1883G. M. Hopkins Let. 25 Oct. (1956) 323 This was the sin of Adam and Eve, who, both in different ways, eat of the ‘*Test-tree’.
1977*Test trial [see pencil v. 2 c].
1910Westm. Gaz. 19 Jan. 4/2 She wanted to test the gas at the purifier..but found the *test-valve choked.
1895Daily News 19 Feb. 9/2 Service in relieving distress..by means of carefully-planned *test-work.
b. Special Combs.: test ban, a ban on the testing of nuclear weapons; test bed, a piece of equipment for testing machines, esp. aircraft engines, before their acceptance for general use; also attrib. and fig.; test board (Electr.): see quot.; test-body Physics, the imaginary object on which a thought-experiment is carried out; test-boiler, a boiler for testing fuel or steam-apparatus, or supplying steam-pressure for testing other boilers (Cent. Dict., Suppl. 1909); test-bottom, = sense 1; also, the cake of gold or silver formed in the bottom of a cupel; test-box (Telegr.), a box fitted with terminals through which the wires are led, for convenience in testing; test card, (a) Ophthalm., a large card printed with rows of letters of decreasing size for use in testing visual acuity (cf. Snellen); (b) Television, a diagrammatic still picture transmitted outside normal programme hours and designed for use in judging the quality and position of the image on any particular screen; test-case (Law), a case, the decision of which is taken as determining that of a number of others in which the same question of law is involved; also transf. and attrib.; test chart Ophthalm. = test card (a) above; test-cock, (a) a valved cock for clearing a steam engine cylinder of water; (b) a tap through which a sample of fluid may be drawn for examination; (c) a tap by means of which the level of water in a boiler or the like may be ascertained; test-drive v. trans. (orig. U.S.), to drive (a motor vehicle) in order to determine its qualities with a view to its regular use; test-fire orig. U.S., to fire (a gun or missile) experimentally; test flight, a flight during which the performance of an aircraft is tested; test-fly v. trans., to test the performance of (an aircraft) in flight; hence test-flying vbl. n.; test-frame, the iron frame or basket in which a cupel is placed: see sense 1; test-furnace, a reverberatory refining furnace in which silver-bearing alloys are treated; also fig.; test-glass, a small cylindrical glass vessel for holding liquids while being tested; test-hole, (a) a tap-hole in a furnace; (b) = test well below; test-lead, pure granulated lead used in silver assays (C.D., Suppl. 1909); test letter, (a) a letter sent as a test of the honesty of the messenger; (b) see test-type (C.D., Suppl. 1909); test-lines, the lines on a test-plate (Cassell's Encycl. Dict. 1888); test-market v. trans. (and intr.) (orig. U.S.), to put (a new product) on to the market, usu. in a limited area, in order to determine consumers' response to it; also transf.; also as n., an area in which a product is test-marketed; hence test-marketing vbl. n.; test match (Cricket), one of a series of matches played as a test which is the better of two bodies of players (e.g. of England and Australia); also in Rugby Football (orig. S. Afr.), one of a series of matches between a touring team and teams representing the country of the tour; an international; test-meal, a meal of specified quantity and composition, given as a test of digestive power; test-meter, (a) a meter for testing the consumption of gas by burners; (b) a meter used as a standard by which others are tried (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895); test-mixer: see quot.; test object, (a) a minute object used as a test of the power of a microscope; (b) an object upon which a testing experiment is tried; test-paper, (a) a paper impregnated with a chemical solution which changes colour in contact with certain other chemicals, and thus becomes a test of the presence of the latter; (b) U.S. a document produced in court in determining a question of handwriting (Webster, 1847); (c) a paper set beforehand to try whether a student is fit and ready for an examination; test-piece, (a) a piece of anything used for testing; = test-specimen; (b) a piece performed by each of the competitors in a musical contest to determine which is the best; test pilot, one who test-flies an aircraft; also (with hyphen) as v. trans.; hence test-piloting vbl. n.; test-pit Archæol., a pit dug to gain an idea of the contents of a site; also fig.; test-plate, (a) a glass plate ruled with very fine lines, used in testing the power of microscope objectives (Knight Dict. Mech. 1877); (b) a piece of pottery on which colours are tried before being used on the pieces to be decorated (Cent. Dict. 1891); (c) a slip of glass used in mixing test-solutions (Knight); test-pump, a force-pump used in testing pipes, cylinders, and the like; test range, a range (range n.1 11 c) where missiles are tested; test-retest a. Psychol., of or designating a method by which a test is given to a subject on two occasions separated by a lapse of time; test rig Engin., an apparatus used for assessing the performance of a piece of mechanical or electrical equipment; test-ring, (a) see quot.; (b) a ring-shaped piece of iron, etc., taken as a sample of the metal of which it is made (Cent. Dict., Suppl. 1909); test-roll, (a) a roll signed by those who have complied with a test or tests as prescribed by the various test acts; (b) the roll signed by a member of the House of Lords or Commons after having taken the oath or made the declaration required of him as such; test signal, a sequence of electrical impulses used for testing purposes in television broadcasting; test specimen, a piece of metal, etc. prepared for a mechanical test; test strip, (a) Cinemat. (see quot. 1940); (b) Photogr. (see quot. 1973); test-type, letters of graduated sizes used by opticians in testing sight; test well Oil Industry, a well made in testing a site for oil; test-word, (a) Psychol., a word used in a test; (b) Onomastics, a word used to determine the presence of a particular linguistic form or influence. Also Test Act, test-tube.
1958New Statesman 27 Dec. 898/1 More progress was registered at Geneva last week, when the *test-ban conference approved a British draft of Article Four of the treaty. 1971H. Trevelyan Worlds Apart xvi. 177 As we saw it, there were two elements in Soviet thinking about a test-ban. 1979G. F. Newman List vi. 55 Kennedy sees the test ban treaty as a step toward peace.
1914Flight 21 Mar. 312/1 The 120 h.p. engine entered by the Green Engine Co. for the Military Aeroplane Engine Competition is mounted on a tilting *test bed. 1924S. R. Roget Dict. Electr. Terms 260 Test bed, a base plate or foundation upon which machines may readily be mounted for testing purposes. 1937Times 13 Apr. (Brit. Motor Number) p. xv/4 The car engines undergo a long and thorough trial on the test-bed. 1961Aeroplane CI. 791/1 Two VTOL test-bed aircraft using the G.E. J85-5 fan-lift engine. 1963Listener 28 Mar. 542/2 The Russian leaders..have spent the last fifteen years on the test-bed of world strategy, feeling the fearful and complex stresses and strains that that involves. 1978Sci. Amer. July 30/1 On test beds turbine-inlet temperatures of well over 1,650 degrees C. have been achieved for at least a decade.
1902T. O'C. Sloane Stand. Electr. Dict. App., *Test Board, a board provided with switches or spring-jacks connected to separate lines, so that testing instruments may be readily connected to any particular line.
1920A. S. Eddington Space, Time & Gravitation iv. 64 A massive body, such as the earth, seems to be surrounded by a field of latent force, ready, if another body enters the field, to become active, and transmit motion. One usually thinks of this influence as existing in the space round the earth even when there is no *test-body to be affected. 1955L. Rosenfeld in W. Pauli Niels Bohr 71 This meant that in studying the measurability of field components we must use as test-bodies finite distributions of charge and current, and not point charges.
1853*Test-bottom [see sense 1]. 1869Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. XI. 92 A cake or test-bottom [of silver]... Its weight was 4343 ounces Troy.
1876Preece & Sivew. Telegraphy 273 The wire is..put to earth at the *test-box there.
1892A. Duane tr. Fuchs's Text-bk. Opthalm. iii. ii. 609 When the visual acuity has become so reduced that the largest letters of Snellen's *test-card can no longer be recognized at 6 metres, the patient must go up nearer it. 1935Popular Wireless 16 Mar. 14/2 The ‘test cards’ radiated recently by the B.B.C. have..been the cause of a lot of correspondence. 1949H. C. Weston Sight, Light & Efficiency vii. 245 External light sources must be relied upon for illuminating the test-cards. 1962Which? Mar. 70/2 To measure the resolution, we used the BS test-slide which has blocks of parallel lines of various thicknesses and spacings, similar to the test card shown to television viewers so that they can adjust their sets for a clear, sharp picture. 1978S. Wilson Dealer's Move iii. vi. 103 A buzzing in my head to match the buzzing of the test card on the screen.
1894W. Archer in World 31 Jan. 25/2 Mr. Gattie is of opinion that the insanity of one of the parties to a marriage should be..a compulsory ground for divorce... He indicts the law by making his hero break it, and showing..that his crime is a law-made crime... He is..bent upon getting up a good ‘*test case’. 1906Daily News 25 Apr. 9/1 Important charges of street betting, which were regarded by the police as test cases. 1911M. Corelli Life Everlasting ix. 205 Because he had seen in me the possibility of a ‘test case’, Santoris had tried his power upon me. 1959B. & R. North tr. M. Duverger's Pol. Parties (ed. 2) i. ii. 112 Such counts..presuppose that the leaders of a number of test-case branches.. would make a very careful check of attendances over a period of time.
1910H. C. Parker Handbk. Dis. Eye v. 62 (caption) *Test chart for illiterates. 1978J. Parr Introd. Ophthalm. ii. 64 If a subject's visual acuity is less than 6/60 the distance from the test chart can be progressively reduced down to 1m.
1877Knight Dict. Mech., *Test-cock (Steam-engine), a small cock fitted to the top or bottom of a cylinder for clearing it of water.
1954Sun (Baltimore) 1 Nov. (B ed.) 9/1 Shaw and his companions were returning from Detroit, where he had *test driven a 1955 Chrysler. 1971Guardian 30 Oct. 20/1 Mrs Joy Johnson..demolished a ‘No Entry’ sign while test-driving a double⁓deck bus.
1947Birmingham (Alabama) News 27 Oct. 1/2 He stole the automatic pistol from an automobile and *test-fired it twice before calling for the cab. 1952N.Y. Times 27 Apr. iv. e5/2 The atomic gun-fired shell..will probably be test-fired in the course of the next year or so. 1960Daily Tel. 8 Jan. 1/3 Russia is to test-fire new heavy rockets, intended for use on inter-planetary flights. 1980N. Freeling Castang's City xxix. 202 We'll have it test⁓fired tomorrow and the cartridge marks compared.
1912Flight 3 Feb. 106/2 No flying on Friday beyond a *test flight by Pizey on the Bristol. 1927C. A. Lindbergh We iv. 59, I took off for a test flight before taking the lady over Pensacola. 1976Derbyshire Times (Peak ed.) 3 Sept. 28/1 The twin-engined Beechcraft monoplane..was on a test flight at the time.
1936Meccano Mag. Aug. 433/2, I hope it will fall to my lot to *test fly these great super-clippers. 1942W. Simpson One of our Pilots is Safe ii. 40 During the day each aircraft received a special check-up and was test-flown by its pilot and crew. 1978J. A. Michener Chesapeake 739 When the time came to test-fly the contraption,..an aviator from Washington..studied the seaplane.
1928N. Macmillan Art of Flying 7 Immediately after the War, he took up *test-flying with considerable success. 1961Test-flying [see flight-testing vbl. n. s.v. flight n.1 15].
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1131 In forming the cupel, several layers of a mixture of moistened bone ashes, and fern ashes,..are put into the *test-frame.
1877Knight Dict. Mech., *Test-furnace, one form of refining furnace for treating argentiferous alloy. 1896Godey's Mag. Feb. 186/2, I don't believe that the immortal Sara Bernhardt could have gone through the fierce test-furnace of this rôle more superbly.
1827Faraday Chem. Manip. §619. 285 On the top of a *test-glass.
1909Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 160/1 He [sc. the prospector] digs here and there, making *test-holes. 1971Sunday Australian 8 Aug. 17/2 The new test hole is sited about 100 miles south-west of Fitzroy Crossing, W.A.
1869Trans. 4th & 5th Ann. Meeting Amer. Ophthalm. Soc. 68 (heading) On a new series of *test-letters for determining the acuteness of vision. 1897Daily News 14 Apr. 7/5 The prisoner [a postman] was suspected. A test letter was sent, and it was not delivered. 1970A. H. Keeney Ocular Examination ii. 18/2 Snellen's real contribution was to standardize the size and form of test letters with relation to the distance from the observer.
1958Wall St. Jrnl. 6 Nov. 23/5 A new line of cookingware which is now being *test-marketed in three cities of the United States. 1964Listener 12 Mar. 422/1 Many products are produced and tried out in test-markets (usually medium-sized cities or commercial-television areas) for a year or more.
Ibid., Decisions about *test-marketing..are the cause of severe anxiety. 1972‘J. Melville’ Ironwood ix. 154 She had come to me seeking recipes for a new sort of cooking chocolate she was helping test-market in this area.
1862W. J. Hammersley Victorian Cricketer's Guide 1861–2 159 Of the thirteen matches, five only can be termed ‘*test matches’; the three played at Melbourne, and the two played at Sydney. 1889Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack 162 There was a considerable amount of anxiety as to the result of the first of the three great test matches. 1899Westm. Gaz. 27 June 5/1 Not far below his big test-match average. Ibid. 15 Aug. 5/3 Two test-match records were broken during the day. 1905Westm. Gaz. 19 Aug. 2/3 Until the year 1894 no one had ever heard of a ‘Test’ match, but..since that time we have been accustomed thus to speak of an England v. Australia match. 1924Times 15 Aug. 5/4 The British team for the first Rugby Football Test Match on Saturday will be selected [in S. Africa]. 1933M. Nicholls in I. D. Difford Hist. S. Afr. Rugby Football xxiv. 335 We won this fourth Test match by 13 points to 5, and squared the rubber. 1974Encycl. Brit. Micropædia IX. 458/2 Rugby League football... The three principal Test-match series stand as follows.
1891Cent. Dict., *Test-meal. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 409 When the contents of the stomach are examined after a test-meal, the total acidity is found to be diminished.
1877Knight Dict. Mech., *Test-mixer, a tall cylindrical bottle..graduated into..equal parts.., and..used in preparing test-alkalies, test-acids, and similar solutions.
1830Goring Microscopical Illustr. 2 The difficulty of demonstrating many *test objects satisfactorily is very considerable. 1904tr. Hueppe's ætiology Infectious Diseases iii. 27 Guinea-pigs are so susceptible that we use them as the best test-object of tuberculosis.
1827Faraday Chem. Manip. §584. 270 *Test papers are far more advantageous for use than liquids: two of them in general application..are litmus and turmeric papers. 1871Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 68 The solution is neutral or slightly alkaline to test-paper. 1926Kipling Debits & Credits 273 To prepare for the Form a General Knowledge test-paper.
1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 179 The electrical resistance of the wire..and the resistance of each *test-piece. 1877Knight Dict. Mech. 2537/2 The angle through which the test-piece yielded before its fracture became complete. 1927Melody Maker Aug. 792/1 Some bandsmen tell you that after playing a test-piece for perhaps a hundred times they feel they are only just beginning to appreciate it. 1960Times 23 May 16/6 It would make a good test-piece for an international Eisteddfod.
1917W. L. Wade Flying Bk. 193/1 Now with Parnell and Sons, of Bristol, as chief *test pilot. 1927C. A. Lindbergh We iv. 61 The service parachute{ddd}gave the test pilot a safe means of escape in most cases when all else had failed. 1947Sat. Even. Post 6 Dec. 78/2 They reminded him of the fiery trail left by the high-altitude jet plane he had test-piloted in the last week of the war. 1978J. A. Michener Chesapeake 740 The trial run was without incident, the test pilot pronouncing the craft airworthy.
1958Times Lit. Suppl. 16 May 274/3 The beauty and immensity of the skies have always been a spiritual bonus added to the satisfactions of *test-piloting work well done.
1896M. H. Foote in Atlantic Monthly May 606/2 Sinking *test-pits through layers of crusted consciousness into depths of fiery nature. 1905D. Mackenzie Let. Sept. in Observer (1962) 11 Feb. 11/4 The examination of the later test-pits was reserved for a future time at your own express desire. 1952V. G. Childe New Light Most Anc. East vii. 123 How far other innovations..coincide with the change in pottery cannot be decided from the limited material furnished by a narrow test pit.
1973Lebende Sprachen XVIII. 72/2 On 5th May..Ariel 3 was successfully launched by a scout rocket from the western *test range..at Vandenburg Air Force base, California.
1945L. Guttman in Psychometrika X. 255 (heading) A basis for analyzing *test-retest reliability. Ibid. 266 That the universe of trials be indefinitely large seems part of the definition of the problem of test-retest reliability. 1960F. Land Lang. Math. xiv. 253 The ‘test re-test’ method..involves giving the test and then, after some lapse of time, giving it again to the same group of people... A correlation less than 0·9 between the two performances of the same test would indicate that its reliability was below the acceptable level.
1957Technology Sept. 244/3 The..mechanical engineering research laboratory..developed a new *test rig for..fittings for oil hydraulic circuits. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War xlv. 435 If only we had complete photographic cover of the Blizna area we could have found the launching site or test rig.
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., *Test-ring, an oval iron frame holding a test or movable cupelling-hearth.
1879T. E. May Parl. Practice (ed. 8) 204 So soon as a member has been sworn, he subscribes the oath which he has taken, in a book, at the table, commonly called the ‘*test-roll’; and is then introduced to the Speaker by the clerk of the house. 1884Ninth Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. 68/2 Certificate..Produced this day [17 Nov. 1675] on his taking the oaths and signing the Test Roll.
1945Daily Herald 31 Aug. 4/4 The B.B.C. is already sending out *test signals on the sound channel. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xxi. 29 The use of test signals must not result in significant degradation of the program transmissions.
1894Lineham Mech. Engin. 378 Shackles for *Test Specimens should be carefully designed.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict., *Test strip (Cinema.), the specially exposed unmodulated sound-track which is made to ascertain the current in the exciter lamp of a recording machine which gives the requisite density on the negative, after normal development. 1958T. L. J. Bentley in Newnes Compl. Amat. Photogr. iv. 78 By giving a series of test strips different periods of development and measuring the resulting gammas and plotting them against development times, a curve is produced. 1973D. A. Spencer Focal Dict. Photogr. Technol. 623 Test strip, a piece of the sensitised material on which exposure is to be made which is exposed in sections, each receiving a different exposure to enable the correct exposure to be judged by the appearance of the developed strip. Each successive section typically receives twice the exposure of the previous section.
1864W. D. Moore tr. Donders' Anomalies of Accommodation & Refraction ii. 99 We give him small print—I to IV of Snellen's *test-types to read. 1907,1962Test-type [see Jaeger2].
1877Sci. Amer. 22 Dec. 387/3 A large number of ‘wildcats’, or *test wells, have gone down off the eastern edge of the defined line, but with very few exceptions they have proved dusters. 1925A. B. Thompson Oil-Field Explor. I. v. 208 The selection of sites for test wells is one of the most responsible duties that devolves on pioneers. 1975Offshore Sept. 91/1 A total of 12 deep onshore test wells have been drilled, all of which have been dry holes.
1905A. Meyer in Psychol. Bull. 15 July 242 The time was measured with a stop-watch from the chief syllable of the *test-word to the reaction. 1924E. Ekwall in Mawer & Stenton Introd. Survey Eng. Place-Names iv. 60 Norwegian test-words are breck, buth (ON búð), gill, scale, slack. 1965G. Kristensson in English Studies Apr. 142 This surname [sc. Ladyman] is..too unreliable to be used as a test-word for the appearance of OE (ge)lād.
▪ II. test, n.2|tɛst|
[ad. L. testa a piece of burned clay, a brick, tile, a piece of baked earthenware or pottery, an earthen pot or vessel, a potsherd, a shell of a mollusc or tortoise, a shell or covering of anything. Cf. also test n.1, and testa.]
†1. A piece of earthenware, an earthenware vessel; a broken piece of pottery, a potsherd. Obs.
1545Joye Exp. Dan. iv. D iij, Then was y⊇ test or pot⁓sherd, the brasse, gold & sylver redacte into duste. [Cf. Vulg. Dan. ii. 45 testam et ferrum et æs.] 1600Surflet Country Farm i. xii. 76 It is good..to haue a dish of the plane tree or a test of earth.
2. a. Zool. The shell of certain invertebrates.
1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 371/1 This external covering or test, extremely delicate and fragile towards the umbones of the valves. 1854Woodward Mollusca ii. 214 The vascular processes by which, in many ascidians, the ‘tunic’ adheres to the ‘test’. 1872Nicholson Palæont. 60 Rhizopoda in which the body is protected by a shell or ‘test’. 1888[see testacea 2].
†b. Bot. The skin of a seed: = testa 1. rare.
1846Smart Suppl., Test (or Testa..), the skin of a seed.
▪ III. test, n.3 Obs. exc. dial.|tɛst|
Also 6–7 teste.
[In sense 1, app. ad. L. test-is witness. In senses 2 and 3, perh. aphetic for atest, attest n.]
†1. A witness. Cf. testis1. Obs. rare.
(Quot. 1528 may belong to testis1.)
1528Roy Rede me ii. (Arb.) 109 To prove it shall nede no testes. 1614W. B. Philosopher's Banquet (ed. 2) 197 The faithful teste or witnesse. a1626Bp. Andrewes Serm., Holy Ghost (1661) 488 A Witnesse is requisite. There is no matter of weight with us, if it be sped authentically..but it is with a Teste.
†2. Evidence, witness borne. Cf. attest n. 1.
[c1450Holland Howlat 253 All this trety has he tald be termess in test.] 1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 107 To vouch this, is no proofe, Without more wider, and more ouer Test. [Cf. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. v. ii. 122 That test [Qo. th' attest] of eyes and eares.] 1658Sir T. Browne Hydriot. ii. (1736) 21 The lasting Tests of old Boundaries.
†3. = teste2. Cf. attest n. 2. Obs.
1709Strype Ann. Ref. I. xxvi. 277 In the term next after the test of the said writ. 1752J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 174 The Court shall issue another Writ..of the same Test, Return and Import with the former.
4. A will: = testament n. 1. Sc.
1890J. Service Thir Notandums iii. 13 By ane eik to his test, he left to Peter Scartle the soom of five shillings.
▪ IV. test, n.4 West Indian colloq.|tɛs|
[Origin uncertain: the final -t, not sounded in pronunciation, prob. represents an orthographic hypercorrection to a standard English final-consonant cluster. Cf. W. Indian dial. tetes friend, lover.]
A fellow or guy; a ‘bloke’.
1952S. Selvon Brighter Sun vii. 123 Ah play cards—Ah was a rummy test in me days, and don't talk 'bout wappee! Yuh cud play cards? 1960Tamarack Rev. xiv. 22 Then at last a Polish test give him this basement room in Bayswater. 1962D. Walcott In Green Night 28 Don't name me but I think They catch his wife with two tests up the beach. 1973S. Selvon Ways of Sunlight i. 43 He was a small Indian test with a wooden leg, wearing a khaki suit and a peak cap like a ship officer.
▪ V. test, v.1|tɛst|
[orig. a. OF. tester to bequeath, ad. L. testārī to bear witness, give evidence, attest, make one's will, f. testis witness; but in 3 app. from teste n.2 2, and in 4 perh. aphetic from attest.]
I.
†1. trans. To leave by will or testament, to bequeath. Sc. Obs. rare—1.
1491Acta Dom. Conc. (1839) 208/1 He allegeit It wes testit gudis, & he Intromettit þarwt as executour.
2. intr. To make a will, execute a testament. (See also testing vbl. n.1 1.) Obs. exc. Sc.
1582N. T. (Rhem.) Heb. ix. 17 For a testament..is yet of no value, whiles he that tested, liueth. 1681Stair Inst. Law Scot. xxx. §18 Persons..condemned of Infamy could not test. 1822Scott Pirate vi, I will test upon it [Note, i.e. leave it in my will] at my death, and keep it for a purse⁓penny till that day comes. 1838W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v. Testament, A wife has power to test without the consent of her husband. 1880Muirhead Ulpian xxiii. §10 [In Roman Law] Soldiers are allowed to test in any way they like.
II.
3. trans. Eng. Law. To date and sign the teste of a writ, etc. (see teste n.2 2).
(The pa. pple. appears in Blackstone as teste'd, as if formed immediately on teste, but it is usually written and pronounced tested.)
1727J. Asgill Metam. Man 249 His title..is tested and dated from the Death and Resurrection of Christ, as the Cause of it. 1745Col. Rec. Pennsylv. IV. 775 A Commission Tested by me under the Great Seal of the Province. 1769Blackstone Comm. IV. xxi. 288 A warrant from the chief, or other, justice of the court of king's bench extends all over the kingdom: and is teste'd, or dated, England. 1883Wharton's Law Lex. s.v., All writs..were formerly tested in the name of the Lord Chancellor if issuing from the Court of Chancery, or of the Lord Chief Justice if issuing from the Queen's Bench, etc.
4. Sc. Law. To authenticate a deed or written instrument by a testing clause (testing vbl. n.1 2) duly drawn up in statutory form and signed by witnesses.
1838W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v. Testament, A testament..must be properly tested and signed before witnesses; but if it be in the testator's own handwriting, witnesses are not required. 1911T. Hunter Let. to Editor, The Scottish law requires writings (except those in re mercatoria) to be either holograph or tested.
▪ VI. test, v.2|tɛst|
[f. test n.1
(Before 1800 chiefly in pa. pple.; the simple vb. was considered by Southey as an Americanism.)]
1. trans. To subject (gold or silver) to a process of separation and refining in a test or cupel; to assay.
1603[see tested below]. [ 1661: ? implied in tester4.] 1828Webster, Test, v., 3. In Metallurgy, To refine gold or silver by means of lead, in a test, by the destruction, vitrification or scorification of all extraneous matter. 1871[see tested below]. 1872Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 120 The ore tested yielded $25 per ton. Ibid. 335 These lodes have not been tested by the repeated and continuous milling of the ore raised from them. 1873Symonds Grk. Poets iii. 89 You may test gold and silver, but there are no means of getting at the thoughts of men.
2. To subject to a test of any kind; to try, put to the proof; to ascertain the existence, genuineness, or quality of. to test out, to put (a theory, etc.) to a practical test. Phrases: to test (something) to failure or destruction; to test the water (fig.: cf. quot. 1888).
1748[see tested below]. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 48 You have been sufficiently tested. a1799Washington Address (Webster 1828), Experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution. 1815Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 260 Materials which test the truth it contains. 1820Blackw. Mag. Sept. 591/1 They have not the means of testing the statements. 1834–43Southey Doctor cxlv. (1862) 397 But I will test (as an American would say..) I will test Mr. Campbell's assertion. 1837J. H. Newman Proph. Office Ch. 324 The Church is bound ever to test and verify her doctrine. 1838Gladstone State in Rel. Ch. (1839) 186 This theory however has not been tested experimentally. 1888M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. v, I have tested the water in all the wells. 1926Publishers' Weekly 29 May 1794/2 To test out the value of radio publicity. 1962F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics vii. 325 We first select 100 units and test them to failure. 1972D. Ramsay Little Murder Music 62 ‘If you're attempting to establish a motive—’ ‘I'm just testing the water,’ Meredith said. 1974Howard Jrnl. XIV. 104 Legal philosophers could back up these efforts by testing out some of their theories with research projects. 1978A. Price '44 Vintage xviii. 203 Sergeant Winston tested the statement to destruction. 1980J. Krantz Princess Daisy xxv. 443 ‘I guess it's just..lucky..that Supracorp's such a big business,’ Kiki said, testing the waters.
b. To subject (a person) to a test of a particular kind.
1939Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. July 1 The range of chronological age of persons tested was so wide that a special enquiry had to be undertaken. 1957C. N. Parkinson Parkinson's Law (1958) 23 So much time has been spent in studying the art of being tested that the candidate has rarely had time for anything else. 1978Washington Post 20 Jan. d 1 Hepburn had played bit or supporting roles in several European movies..before William Wyler tested her and cast her as the runaway princess in ‘Roman Holiday’.
†3. To require or compel to fulfil the conditions of the Test Act as a necessary qualification for holding a public office. Obs.
1687Reason of Toleration 36 There is no reason they should be so cruelly Tested for Doctrines that are but either obscurely reveal'd, or not necessarily enjoyn'd. [1687,1689: see testing vbl. n.2, tested below. 1697: see tester4.]
4. Chem. To subject to a chemical test.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 71 (Assay) The testing of the normal liquor..is..less tedious than might be supposed. 1842Parnell Chem. Anal. (1845) 35 Oxide of silver is most conveniently applied, in liquid testing, in the form of nitrate of silver. 1846G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. II. 135 The urine..must be tested with litmus paper. 1864in Webster.
5. intr.
a. To undergo a test. U.S.
1934in Webster. 1961in Webster, Actors..best suited to the roles for which they tested. Ibid., The great turboprop..was still testing. 1981Times 29 Apr. 12/3, I tested with Jack Nicholson for his own film Goin' South. It came down to a choice between myself and Mary Steenburger and she got the part.
b. With phrasal compl. To achieve a rating of (so much) as the result of a test. U.S.
1934Webster, s.v. A compound that tests ten per cent. a1961R. Benedict in Webster, The eyesight of different peoples may test the same. 1971‘L. Egan’ Malicious Mischief viii. 135 They could guess that he might test dull-normal. He was seventeen, not very big and not very bright. 1976M. Machlin Pipeline ii. 32 It tests over two thousand barrels a day.
6. absol. or intr. To apply or carry out a test.
1961Webster, s.v., Use the scratch technique in testing for allergies. 1978T. Sharpe Throwback ix. 87 Then say ‘Testing. Testing. Testing’ into that little transmitter.
Hence ˈtested ppl. a. (in senses 1 and 2); in quot. 1689, having taken the test-oaths.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 149 Not with fond Sickles of the tested-gold, Or Stones, whose rate are either rich, or poore. 1689Let. in N. Brit. Daily Mail 27 Dec. (1894), If we have a Convention chosen by our present tested magistrates we may expect little good from their hands. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. xxxi. 187 She cannot break through a well-tested modesty. 1871Tennyson Last Tourn. 284, I..heard it ring as true as tested gold.
▪ VII. test
obs. Sc. form of taste. |