a test, especially one conducted in a laboratory, to determine how much pressure, tension, wear, or the like a given product or material can withstand.
Medicine/Medical. a test of cardiovascular health made by recording heart rate, blood pressure, electrocardiogram, and other parameters while a person undergoes physical exertion.
a simulation test to determine how a given institution, system, etc., would perform under greater than usual stresses or pressures.
the government’s stress test for big banks;
mandatory stress tests for nuclear plants;
a website stress test that simulates peak traffic.
First recorded in 1970–75
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The stress test assumed crude-oil prices would remain at $100 a barrel for a three-year period, fueling inflation and an increase in interest rates.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
At best, they should be viewed as a stress test that our justice system has only partially passed.
From Slate • May 1, 2026
March unfolded like a stress test for U.S. counterterrorism authorities.
From Salon • Apr. 22, 2026
“We just put EMs through a severe stress test and they came out OK.”
From Barron's • Apr. 20, 2026
When he insisted she have a stress test first, a receptionist gave her the first available appointment— seven weeks away.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
