test-drive
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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test-drivesimple
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test-drivessimple
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have test-drivenperfect
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has test-drivenperfect
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am test-drivingprogressive
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are test-drivingprogressive
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is test-drivingprogressive
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have been test-drivingperfect progressive
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has been test-drivingperfect progressive
Past
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test-drovesimple
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had test-drivenperfect
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was test-drivingprogressive
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were test-drivingprogressive
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had been test-drivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of test-drive
First recorded in 1945–50
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.
See Examples For:
But despite offering a potential buyer the opportunity to test-drive the dwelling as a tenant, it appeared nobody took that bait as he later lowered both the rental and buying asking price.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 13, 2026
“Before buying, talk to folks about theirs and test-drive different models,” he writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
Proton VPN is perfect for privacy purists and anyone who wants to test-drive a VPN without dropping cash.
From Salon ● Feb. 11, 2026
Ashley Folkes, a CFP in Hoover, Alabama, has clients test-drive living on less for a month or two to see what it might be like in retirement.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 15, 2024
My father took me to test-drive upcars on Saturday.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
He moved here from Southern California more than a decade ago, trading life by the beach for a five-acre plot where he runs an off-roading school and test-drives motorcycles for manufacturers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
The former reality star is energized by performing in front of his audiences and often test-drives new material and talking points to see how they resonate with the crowd.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 25, 2021
He golfs, test-drives a rare DeLorean, and is emotionally transported by a whiskey shot that costs 75 pounds.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2013
In it rides both a big bundle of Ford's future and the reputation of the man who daily test-drives a different Mustang between Bloomfield Hills and Dearborn.
From Time Magazine Archive
Forest Service in the name of anyone who test-drives a Datsun up to Oct.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Journal’s Dan Neil just test-drove a flying car.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
Hudson added that when he was starting out he test-drove the more popular Hammond B-3 organ, but he was drawn to a model made by a smaller company, Lowrey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2025
During a July solo appearance at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust, Lowe test-drove four of the album’s tracks, including “Love Starvation,” “Blue on Blue,” “Trombone,” and “Tokyo Bay.”
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2024
Before committing to “Purlie Victorious,” which will be his first professional stage play, Odom said he test-drove the material, to reassure himself that it would still work, and that he felt comfortable in the role.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
Joe Biden had some words of praise for the Ford F-150 Lightning, the brand new electric pick-up truck that the president test-drove in Michigan this week: “This sucker’s quick.”
From Slate ● May 21, 2021
For now, the technology is being test-driven on a “population that can afford it,” says Dr. Julie Chen, chief medical officer for Radence, which uses AI to help sift through clinical studies.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
The company’s slick online-buying experience proved that plenty of car shoppers were willing to fork over tens of thousands of dollars for a vehicle they hadn’t seen in person or test-driven.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Havens has already test-driven the console in new work with Carsten Elsner, a mathematician at the University of Applied Sciences for Economics in Hannover, Germany.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 2, 2023
“That’s an angle that’s best test-driven in Amsterdam,” he added, because the public in the Dutch capital is already familiar with Rembrandt’s larger body of work.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
One area of concern is the shrinking playground time during the school day due to an emphasis on more test-driven curricula.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
And yet, late last year, I spent two weeks test-driving one of China’s hottest cars around the mean streets of New Jersey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
"If it's got a button, touch it. Make sure it works," said David Jones, a member of the test-driving team and a 34-year Ford veteran whose father also worked at Kentucky Truck.
From Reuters ● May 1, 2023
Despite its youth in Fieri’s orbit, the kitchen here is also test-driving dishes that could eventually roll onto other menus in the chef’s empire.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 6, 2023
Until relatively recently, buying a car involved hours scouring adverts, travelling to showrooms, test-driving different makes and models, and enduring "the hard sell" pitches at the dealership.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2021
The search continues for a Sacramento-based automotive writer who disappeared last week while test-driving a motorcycle in Northern California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2019
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.
