test act

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noun

any law requiring a person to belong to the established church of a country as a condition for holding public office.

(initial capital letters)English History. the statute (1673) requiring all military officers and public officials to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, receive the sacraments of the Church of England, and reject the doctrine of transubstantiation: repealed in 1828.

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Origin of test act

First recorded in 1700–10

Words nearby test act

Tess of the D'Urbervilles, test, testa, testacean, testaceous, test act, testacy, testalgia, testament, testamentary, testamentary trust

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use test act in a sentence

A spokesman for Lewisham council said last year that it would be forced to act if the family returned to Britain.
Britain May Spy on Preschoolers Searching for Potential Jihadis|Nico Hines|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Every once in a while, they act swiftly and acknowledge the problem.
Today’s GOP: Still Cool With Racist Pandering?|Michael Tomasky|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The gentleman was listed as Orthodox and kosher, which is way too religious for my friend whose JSwipe account I was test-driving.
My Week on Jewish Tinder|Emily Shire|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That act forever sealed his feeling for the Chief, bound it up with the war, with violence, with the gun.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The Samaritan guidelines are written around the assumption that suicide is a purely irrational act, an act spurred by illness.
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide Journalism|Arthur Chu|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He caught himself in the act of listening to you too credulously—and that seemed to him unmanly and dishonorable.
Confidence|Henry James
For this use of the voice in the special service of will-power, or propelling force, it is necessary first to test its freedom.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
He was aware that his act by this time, had helped nobody, had made no one happy or satisfied—not even himself.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
He had, however, recovered sufficiently to enable him to act with promptitude and discretion.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
The most promising of the methods which have been devised are cryoscopy, the methylene-blue test, and the phloridzin test.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd

British Dictionary definitions for test act

Test Act

noun

a law passed in 1673 in England to exclude Catholics from public life by requiring all persons holding offices under the Crown, such as army officers, to take the Anglican Communion and perform other acts forbidden to a Catholic: repealed in 1828

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