assay Hear it!

assay definition

as·say (as′ā, a sā′; for v. a sā′, ə-)

noun

  1. an examination or testing
  2. the analysis of an ore, alloy, drug, etc. to determine the nature, proportion, or purity of the ingredients
  3. a substance to be thus tested or analyzed
  4. the result or report of such an analysis
  5. Now Rare an attempt

Etymology: ME & Anglo-Fr assai < OFr essai, trial: see essay, n.

transitive verb

  1. to make an assay of; test; analyze
  2. to attempt

intransitive verb

to be shown by analysis to contain a specified proportion of some component this ore assays high in gold

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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