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Glite Dictionary
🚗 A trial car ride 🚗 To try a car 🧪 To try a product
to test drive

to test drive

9 3.1
To take a car for a short ride to check how it feels and works
  • phrasal verb
  • /tɛst draɪv/
translation icon : probar
  • Let's test-drive it.

Let's say a car reviewer is paid by Toyota to test drive a new Toyota.

Examples

  • Always test drive the car; this way, you might find a technical problem.

    Blog text (24)

  • Let's take it for a test drive.

    Dark Power (2013)

  • Okay, so you want to test drive it, huh?

    Emily the Criminal (2022)

  • I want to go test drive this baby.

    Knock Knock (2008)

  • Everyone knows you test drive the car before you buy it!

    Blog text (22)

  • Mind if I test drive your Audi?

    Lethal Weapon (1987)

  • If a seller will not let you test drive the car, think twice about negotiating with them.

    Blog text (22)

  • My wife and I went to test drive a Volt today in deep red oil country, Oklahoma.

    Blog text (29)

  • I test drove the C-Max, and I disagree that it would make a good family car in general.

    Blog text (14)

  • Before deciding on a new car, I always take a moment to test drive it first to see how it feels on the road.

Synonyms

to try out
vsto test drive
229 2.8

To test something to see how it works

is specifically driving a vehicle to judge its performance before buying
to take for a spin
vsto test drive
  • Informal
23 4.2

To test a car or gadget by using it for a short time

is a planned drive to assess performance before buying rather than a quick try
to trial
vsto test drive
12 3.3

To test something to see how well it works

is a drive used specifically to assess a vehicle before purchase
to kick the tires
vsto test drive
  • Informal
3 6.7

To look at and try something before you decide to buy or use it

is a focused driving check of performance rather than a quick inspection
to pretest
vsto test drive
1 3.9

To test something before its main use to find problems and make sure it works

is done to judge a vehicle's suitability for purchase rather than find faults

How Thorough

to test drive
9 3.1
to take for a spin
  • Informal
23 4.2

Surface Forms

test drive infinitive
test drove past
test driven past participle
test driving present participle
test drives third person singular

Morphology

test + drive

The core sense (to drive something as a test) is directly compositional from 'test' + 'drive' and a B1 learner would likely infer the meaning when applied to cars. However, its extended, metaphorical use meaning 'try out' for non-driving products or services is a semantic generalization that is not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so the transparency is partial.

Etymology

Test drive (verb) comes from the same simple image: you drive a car to test it, so 'to test drive' means to try a vehicle before you buy it.