| 释义 |
as·say
I. \ˈaˌsā, aˈsā\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English, from Old North French assai, alteration (influenced by a to, from Latin ad) of Old French essai — more at at, essay
1.
a. archaic
(1) : trial in order to test : testing
(2) : experiment
(3) : trial, affliction
b. : examination and determination as to characteristics (as weight, measure, or quality)
< an assay merely of the technical operations of the poem — American Scholar >
< assay of the historical role of the individual — Jerome Nathanson >
< microbiological assay methods — U.S. Dept. Agric. Report on Experiment Stations >
< under the assay conditions employed — Biological Abstracts >
(1) : a chemical test to determine the presence or absence or more often the quantity of one or more components of a material (as an ore, alloy, drug, antibiotic, or dietary substance)
(2) archaic : a testing by taste : tasting
(3) obsolete : the usually complimentary or courteous act of tasting food or drink before offering it to a person
(4) obsolete : testing as to compliance with a standard (as of weights, measures, or foodstuffs)
c. : tested purity, value, or character
< of high poetic assay — Roland Gelatt >
d.
(1) : a substance to be tested or being tested
< the blowpipe test was made on the assay >
(2) : the reported result of such testing : measurable quantity
< the town always had a fairly high assay of Nazis — Paul Moor >
2.
a. archaic : assault, attack
< the men … strove vainly at the first assay by dint of climbing on other men's shoulders to storm the platform — Century Magazine >
b. obsolete : initial or tentative effort
3.
a. archaic : an effort to accomplish : endeavor, attempt
< two brief assays at teaching — Americana Annual >
— now rarely used in this sense; compare essay
b. archaic : best effort or maximum exertion
•
- at all assays
II. \aˈsā also ˈaˌsā sometimes əˈsā\ verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle English assayen, from Old North French assayer, from assai
transitive verb
1. : try, attempt, essay
< here we have two authors assaying that task once more — Oscar Lewis >
< has assayed to penetrate a field that by its very nature requires consummate skill — J.W.Chase >
2. obsolete : to learn from experience
3. obsolete
a. : to taste (food or drink) before serving (as to a person of rank)
b. : to practice experimentally
c. : to subject to the trial of afflictions or temptations
4.
a. : to analyze (an impure substance or mixture) for one or more valuable components — used especially of determinations in mining, metallurgy, pharmacy, food chemistry
b. : to analyze and judge the significance, worth, or status of
< assay a play >
< assay an event >
< assay the various intellectual changes which the great reformers within and without the Catholic Church accomplished — J.H.Randall >
intransitive verb
: to show or prove to be of a particular nature by means of an assay
< the ore assays high in silver >
Synonyms: see estimate |