exam
noun
an examination, as in school.
exam
1 American
[ig-zam]
/ ɪgˈzæm /
noun
Informal.
exam.
2
American
abbreviation
-
examination.
-
examined.
-
examinee.
-
examiner.
exam
British
/ ɪɡˈzæm /
noun
Etymology
Origin of exam
First recorded in 1875–80; short form
Explanation
An exam is a test. Many high school and college classes have a midterm exam and a final exam. The word exam is short for examination, from 19th century student slang. An exam usually takes place in a class and consists of questions that test a student's knowledge. Sometimes the word describes a medical test of some kind, like an eye exam, a dental exam, or a physical exam. Rather than testing knowledge or skill, these exams are procedures meant to diagnose or rule out illnesses.
Vocabulary lists containing exam
Education and Academics, List 2
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Unit 18, Lesson 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Arju Singh, a 21-year-old master’s student in English in New Delhi, has been preparing for India’s civil-service exam while continuing her studies.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
Dozens of police and security guards milled about as parents stood beside the line of students waiting to enter the exam hall, hoping to film their children walking inside.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
Those women instead undergo a breast imaging procedure every six months and a physical exam.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
Hundreds of young Chinese students clutching pens and their IDs shuffled into a testing centre in blue-skied Beijing on Sunday, swarmed by parents, joining millions sitting for the national high-stakes university entrance exam.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
As Darwin was beginning to write his opus on evolution in the spring of 1856, Gregor Mendel decided to return to Vienna to retake the teacher’s exam that he had failed in 1850.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
