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Glite Dictionary
to put to the test

to put to the test

45 3.7
To challenge people or things in hard situations to show their ability
  • idiom
translation icon : poner a prueba
  • So I put him to the test to see what he could do.
  • needs to be put to the test
  • put to the test of force

We are going to put that ski locker to the test the next couple weeks.

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Examples

  • Now finished and in use, these distributed library resources are being put to the test.

    Academic text (2011)

  • You will now be put to the test by questions from our panel, I mean questions from our audience to the panel.

  • So we're going to put you to the test and see if you pass a trial shift right now.

  • That university had a strength in public administration, and they decided to put that to the test in creating this agency.

  • "Every one of your skills will be put to the test.

    Monsters University (2013)

  • All right, let's put her to the test then.

    #No_Filter (2022)

  • Let's put that to the test.

    Full Love (2010)

  • We hope our findings and methods will be put to the test in larger groups of patients.

    Academic text (2003)

  • It soon came time to put our preparations to the test.

    Gattaca (1997)

  • We decided to put to the test our new recipe during the cooking competition.

Synonyms

to try
vsto put to the test
∞ 1.0

To test something to see if it works

is a deliberate challenge to make ability show under pressure rather than casual use
to prove
vsto put to the test
336 2.3

To test if something works or is good

focuses on forcing ability to show under demanding situations not experiments
to put through its paces
vsto put to the test
1 6.5

Test how well a person or thing works by making them do tasks

is a broader challenge to make ability show under demanding conditions

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

How Challenging

to stress test
  • Specialized
2 3.9
trial
87 3.5
to put to the test
45 3.7
to test
469 1.0
to quiz
16 2.3

Surface Forms

put to the test infinitive
put to the test past
put to the test past participle
putting to the test present participle
puts to the test third person singular

Morphology

put + to + the + test

The meaning 'to challenge someone or something by subjecting them to an examination' is directly compositional from 'put' (bring into a state/place) + 'test' (an experience that challenges abilities), with 'to the' marking the directional/prepositional relationship. This construction is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish poner a prueba, French mettre à l'épreuve), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can reliably infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Put to the test may come from old metal workers who would put a tool into hot fire or use it hard to test if it stayed strong. So today it means 'to challenge' someone or something to 'prove' their ability or quality.