assay

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

/ verb æˈseɪ; noun ˈæs eɪ, æˈseɪ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR assay 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.

QUIZZES

CHALLENGE YOURSELF WITH THESE WORDS FROM "LITTLE WOMEN"

"Little Women" may be a classic, but that doesn't mean we all know the meanings of the vocab words from the book. Can you define these words correctly and make Jo proud?

Question 1 of 10

earnest

full seriousness, as of intention or purpose.

a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish.

urgent character; imperativeness; insistence; importunateness.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for assay

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
The ferricyanide had a small influence and, as might be expected, hyposulphite is fatal to the assay.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
I threw it into the fuming nitrous acid to assay it, and there arising a little effervescence, I added distilled water thereon.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume X (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
The assay should be carried out as much as possible in the same flask.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer

The assay is doubtless correct, but the deductions therefrom are most misleading.
Getting Gold|J. C. F. Johnson
The rougher the method of assay adopted, the larger should be the quantity of ore taken.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer

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

Medical definitions for assay

assay

[ ăs′ā′, ă-sā′ ]

n.

Qualitative or quantitative analysis of a substance, especially of an ore or a drug, to determine its components.

A substance to be so analyzed.

The result of such an analysis.

An analysis or examination.

v.

To subject a substance to chemical analysis.

To examine a person's capability by trial or experiment; put to a test.

To evaluate a situation; assess.

To attempt; try.

To be shown by analysis to contain a certain proportion of atoms, molecules, compounds, or precious metal.

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.

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assay

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

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Origin of assay

OTHER WORDS FROM assay

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH assay

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Example sentences from the Web for assay

British Dictionary definitions for assay

verb (əˈseɪ)

noun (əˈseɪ, ˈæseɪ)

Derived forms of assay

Word Origin for assay

Medical definitions for assay

n.

v.

Scientific definitions for assay

MEANINGS

WORD GAMES

LEARN

WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY

assay

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

QUIZZES

CHALLENGE YOURSELF WITH THESE WORDS FROM "LITTLE WOMEN"

Origin of assay

OTHER WORDS FROM assay

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH assay

Words nearby assay

Words related to assay

Example sentences from the Web for assay

British Dictionary definitions for assay

verb (əˈseɪ)

noun (əˈseɪ, ˈæseɪ)

Derived forms of assay

Word Origin for assay

Medical definitions for assay

n.

v.

Scientific definitions for assay