false-negative

[ fawls-neg-uh-tiv ]

nounAlso false negative .
  1. Medicine/Medical.

    • a test result that is incorrect because the test failed to recognize an existing condition or finding.

    • a person who receives this test result.

    • any screening test result that failed to detect a person or thing being sought: Let's hope the new body scanner doesn't give us any false-negatives.

    • a person or thing that is missed by such a test: Retrain your spam filter if you’re getting too many false-negatives in your inbox.

adjective
  1. pertaining to or being a false-negative.

Origin of false-negative

1
First recorded in 1915–20

Words Nearby false-negative

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for false negative

false negative

noun
  1. a result in a medical test that wrongly indicates the absence of the condition being tested for

  2. a person from whom such a result is obtained

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012