1 [+ obj] : to use a set of questions or problems to measure someone's skills, knowledge, or abilities
▪ Weekly quizzes will test your understanding of the material. ▪ The students will all be tested again at the end of the school year. — often + on ▪ The exam will test you on your understanding of basic grammar rules. 2 : to examine a part of the body or a substance taken from the body [+ obj] ▪ The school nurse will be testing students' hearing next week. — often + for ▪ They tested the campers for Lyme disease. ▪ Blood samples from the animals are being tested for the presence of the virus. ▪ Athletes competing in the tournament will be tested for illegal drugs. [no obj] ▪ The athletes knew that tournament officials would be testing for (the presence of) illegal drugs. ▪ She tested positive/negative for AIDS. 3 : to examine a small amount of water, soil, air, etc., in order to see if its quality is good, if it contains a dangerous substance, etc. [+ obj] ▪ The water gets tested regularly. — often + for ▪ They will test the soil for traces of lead. [no obj] — + for ▪ They will test for the presence of lead in the soil. 4 [+ obj] : to use (something) in a planned and usually controlled way in order to see if it works properly
▪ Only one of the vehicles they tested performed well in wet conditions. ▪ Researchers are currently testing (the safety of) the vaccine. ▪ The vaccine has not been tested on humans yet. ▪ We designed a series of experiments to test our hypothesis. — see also field-test 5 [+ obj] : to show how strong, good, etc., someone or something is in a difficult situation
▪ The stress is testing the strength of our relationship. ▪ The scandal is testing the country's faith in its leadership. ▪ Life's ordeals test us. ▪ You're testing my patience. [=you are starting to make me annoyed or upset] — see also time-tested