Literary notes about Test (AI summary)
In literature, the term “test” carries a remarkably versatile significance, functioning as both a literal measure and a metaphor for scrutiny and validation. Its use ranges from clinical settings—where a test may diagnose scurvy by observing physical signs ([1], [2]) or determine the accuracy of a diagnostic tool ([3], [4])—to depictions of personal and moral challenges, such as trials of character or integrity ([5], [6], [7]). Moreover, “test” is frequently invoked to signify the critical evaluation of ideas, ranging from the assessment of memory ([8]) and talent ([9]) to the rigorous examination of philosophical propositions and artistic quality ([10], [11]). Thus, across diverse contexts—from scientific experiments to the intimate probing of human virtue—the word “test” enhances narrative texture by emphasizing both empirical evaluation and the deeper quest for understanding.
- The test is considered to be “positive” when the forearm shows many petechial spots.
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess - A test of this kind once more raises the question whether carbohydrates lead to the development of scurvy.
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess - One in a hundred people that you test will generate a "false positive" -- the test will say he has Super-AIDS even though he doesn't.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - You develop a test for Super-AIDS that's 99 percent accurate.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - I will lay by my trusty bow and eke my arrows, and if thou darest abide my coming, I will go and cut a cudgel to test thy manhood withal.
— from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle - “I have only kept this secret so long from you,” continued Faria, “that I might test your character, and then surprise you.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - I suspected him, and determined to test his sincerity.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker - Original Taking her eyes off the book, to test her memory of something in it, Lizzie was the first to see herself observed.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens - He would stay in Paris a year or two in a studio, and test his talent.
— from The Gay Cockade by Temple Bailey - Here we are enabled to put the justice of this estimate to the test.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - I now see that sorrow, being the supreme emotion of which man is capable, is at once the type and test of all great art.
— from De Profundis by Oscar Wilde
