assay
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.
to contain, as shown by analysis, a certain proportion of usually precious metal.
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.
Origin of assay
1Other words from assay
- as·say·a·ble, adjective
- as·say·er, noun
- un·as·sayed, adjective
- un·as·say·ing, adjective
Words that may be confused with assay
- assay , essay
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use assay in a sentence
The golden reports of Humboldt had been based on assays of selected rich specimens, and were mainly delirium and insanity.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow PaineYields 50 per cent metallic copper and 27 ounces silver per ton by assays.
A commoner and older division is expressed in the terms much used in practice—wet assays and dry assays.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. | Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob BeringerWrought iron crucibles are very useful in the processes required for making galena assays.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. | Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob BeringerIn silver assays this power of readily giving up oxygen is made use of.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. | Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
British Dictionary definitions for assay
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 evaluate: to assay the significance of early childhood experience
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
Origin of assay
1Derived forms of assay
- assayable, adjective
- assayer, noun
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
Scientific definitions for 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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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