assay

[ verb a-sey; noun as-ey, a-sey ]

/ verb æˈseɪ; noun ˈæs eɪ, æˈseɪ /

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See synonyms for: assay / assayable / assayer on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to examine or analyze:to assay a situation; to assay an event.

Metallurgy. to analyze (an ore, alloy, etc.) in order to determine the quantity of gold, silver, or other metal in it.

Pharmacology. to subject (a drug) to an analysis for the determination of its potency or composition.

to judge the quality of; assess; evaluate: to assay someone's efforts.

to try or test; put to trial: to assay one's strength; to assay one's debating abilities.

to attempt; try; essay: to assay a dance step.

verb (used without object)

to contain, as shown by analysis, a certain proportion of usually precious metal.

noun

Metallurgy. determination of the amount of metal, especially gold or silver, in an ore, alloy, etc.

a substance undergoing analysis or trial.

a detailed report of the findings in assaying a substance.

Archaic. examination; trial; attempt; essay.

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Origin of assay

1250–1300; Middle English <Middle French; variant of essay

OTHER WORDS FROM assay

as·say·a·ble, adjectiveas·say·er, nounun·as·sayed, adjectiveun·as·say·ing, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH assay

assay , essay

Words nearby assay

assault course, assaultive, assault jacket, assault rifle, assault weapon, assay, assay cup, assay groove, assay office, assay ton, assbackwards

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use assay in a sentence

We’ve gone andproliferated dozens of different assays, which in this case is basically more confusing than helpful.
Spit vs. Swab? Scientists say new studies support use of ‘saliva tests’ for COVID|Lee Clifford|September 5, 2020|Fortune
Many of the same issues that bedevil comparing neutralizing antibody assays, apply equally to assays for T-cell responses.
Scientists to Wall Street: You don’t really understand how COVID vaccine tests work|Jeremy Kahn|August 24, 2020|Fortune
The issue of standardized antiboday assays is further complicated by the fact that different types of assays may be needed.
Scientists to Wall Street: You don’t really understand how COVID vaccine tests work|Jeremy Kahn|August 24, 2020|Fortune
So far, each vaccine candidate has been tested using a different procedure—known as an assay— conducted in different labs.
Scientists to Wall Street: You don’t really understand how COVID vaccine tests work|Jeremy Kahn|August 24, 2020|Fortune

Such antibody assays in mid-April indicated that close to one-in-eight people who had been tested in New York State had antibodies to the new coronavirus.
Millions of likely U.S. COVID-19 cases have gone undiagnosed|Tina Hesman Saey|July 6, 2020|Science News For Students
Obama did authorize sending kits for a diagnostic Ebola test called the EZ1 Real-Time RT-PCR Assay.
Why the White Americans Got the ‘Secret’ Ebola Serum|Michael Daly|August 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the next afternoon, and perhaps the next, we would return to the same cruxes, and often assay the same options.
Remembering Dmitri Nabokov, the Novelist’s Son and Literary Executor|Brian Boyd|May 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Twenty baskets of it were obtained by the said miners to assay and investigate its nature, and determine what it might be.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
On being fused with twenty-three libras of lead, nothing was obtained from the said assay.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
Thence were taken fifteen baskets of gravel and dirt, which has the color of coal, in order to assay it.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
Cash looked up from studying the last assay report of the Burro Lode, and his look was not pleasant.
Cabin Fever|B. M. Bower
Now would I liefer keep within compass according to my smaller conditions than assay to rival the success 194 of my kinsman Knut.
The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade)|Snorri Sturluson

British Dictionary definitions for assay

assay

verb (əˈseɪ)

to subject (a substance, such as silver or gold) to chemical analysis, as in the determination of the amount of impurity

(tr) to attempt (something or to do something)

(tr; may take a clause as object) to test, analyse, or evaluateto assay the significance of early childhood experience

noun (əˈseɪ, ˈæseɪ)

an analysis, esp a determination of the amount of metal in an ore or the amounts of impurities in a precious metal
(as modifier)an assay office

a substance undergoing an analysis

a written report on the results of an analysis

a test

archaic an attempt

Derived forms of assay

assayable, adjectiveassayer, noun

Word Origin for assay

C14: from Old Northern French assai; see essay

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

Scientific definitions for assay

assay

[ ăs′ā, ə-sā′ ]

A quantitative determination of the amount of a given substance in a particular sample. Assays are regularly used to determine the purity of precious metals. They can be performed by wet methods or dry methods. In the wet method, the sample is dissolved in a reagent, like an acid, until the purified metal is separated out. In the dry method, the sample is mixed with a flux (a substance such as borax or silica that helps lower the melting temperature) and then the sample is heated to the point where impurities in the metal fuse with the flux, leaving the purified metal as a residue.

A bioassay.

assay

Origin of assay

OTHER WORDS FROM assay

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH assay

Words nearby assay

Words related to assay

How to use assay in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for assay

Derived forms of assay

Word Origin for assay

Scientific definitions for assay