test noun
1 examination of sb's knowledge/ability
ADJ. demanding, difficult, gruelling | easy, simple | fair, good, objective This type of exam does not provide a fair test of the student's knowledge. | listening, oral, practical, written | cloze, multiple-choice | placement He scored well in the placement test and was put in the most advanced class. | achievement, aptitude, endurance, intelligence, IQ, language, memory, mental, proficiency, spelling The recruits were put through a week of gruelling endurance tests. | driving | screen Three actors out of a hundred were chosen from the screen test.
VERB + TEST do, sit (for), take I took my driving test last week. | pass | fail | give, set | administer | mark
TEST + NOUN result | conditions As a final practice for the exam, they had to write two essays under test conditions. | paper, questions
PREP. in a/the ~ Some of the questions in the history test were rather difficult. | ~ in a test in mathematics | ~ on a test on the French Revolution
2 experiment/medical examination
ADJ. exhaustive, extensive, rigorous, stringent, thorough | statistical | empirical, experimental | field, laboratory | successful | negative, positive | medical | screening screening tests for cancer | diagnostic | forensic Forensic tests showed that the man had been poisoned. | eye, sight | hearing | blood, DNA, skin, urine | dope, drug/drugs | fitness | breath, breathalyser | smear The government has launched a campaign advising women of the need for regular smear tests. | HIV | pregnancy | personality, psychological, psychometric | lie-detector, polygraph | means | flight, road, safety | atomic, nuclear | alpha, beta The revolutionary new system goes into beta test this month.
QUANT. number, series She underwent a series of blood tests.
VERB + TEST have, undergo | do, | use The test used in detecting the disease carries its own risks. | fail Three athletes were sent home after failing drugs tests.
TEST + VERB take place | confirm sth, indicate sth, reveal sth, show sth The urine test showed some sort of infection. | prove negative/positive | come into force The new safety test came into force last month. | be designed to a test designed to detect bowel cancer
TEST + NOUN result a negative/positive test result | data | conditions The machine refused to perform properly under test conditions. | bed The company is using the university data library as a test bed for its new software. | site protesters at nuclear test sites | facility | drive, flight, run He's taken the car out on a test run. | driver, pilot | aircraft, car | trial The new drink went down well in the test trials. | methods, procedures | system | performance | subject | equipment, instruments, kit, machine | samples, substances | programme, schedule | phase, stage The software is still at the test stage. | session Subjects had to attend ten test sessions on different days. | certificate The vehicle did not have a current test certificate at the time of the accident. | case This was the first action taken by a cancer sufferer against a tobacco company, and was seen as a test case.
PREP. ~ for a test for diabetes | ~ on a test on the engine
3 shows how good, strong, effective, etc. sb/sth is
ADJ. good | critical, crucial, key, real, supreme, true, ultimate, vital a real test of character | serious, severe, stiff, tough | simple | objective | subjective | political
VERB + TEST pose The calls for tax reform pose a severe test for the government. | put sb/sth to The latest pay dispute has really put her management skills to the test. | face The new prime minister is facing his toughest political test so far.
TEST + NOUN case
PHRASES the acid test (= a way of carry out, conduct, perform, run Rigorous safety tests are being carried out on the new jet. deciding whether sth is successful or true) Whether he would accept a pay cut would be the acid test of his loyalty to the company. | stand the test of time Whether this new technology will stand the test of time remains to be seen.
test verb
1 examine sth to find out if it is working/what it is like
ADV. adequately, properly The product had not been adequately tested before being put on the market. | rigorously | extensively | fully, exhaustively, thoroughly | regularly, routinely You should test your brakes regularly. | directly | empirically, experimentally the importance of empirically tested research | formally | successfully The exercise successfully tested the procedures for dealing with a serious oil spillage. | clinically, dermatologically | out a good way to test out his hypothesis
VERB + TEST decide to We decided to test the theory experimentally. | attempt to, seek to, try to | be designed to, be intended to | be used to | be difficult to It is difficult to test a potential cure when a disease is ill-defined.
PREP. for Squeeze the fruit to test for ripeness. | on We only sell products that have not been tested on animals.
PHRASES have sth tested I'm having my eyes tested this week. | test negative/positive Two of the athletes tested positive for illegal drugs. | test sth to the limit The training tested his body to the very limit. | tried and tested tried and tested techniques
2 require all sb's strength/ability/resources, etc.
ADV. seriously, severely, sorely Neither goalkeeper was seriously tested in a rather poor match. There were times when my temper was sorely tested.
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