assay
/əˈseɪ/ (bre, ipa) · /əˈseɪ/ (ame, ipa) · /a-ˈsā ˈa-ˌsā/ (ame, mw) · /ˈæ.seɪ/ (ame, ipa)
assay — verb
1. to carry out a careful chemical or physical test on a metal, ore, drug, or other
to carry out a careful chemical or physical test on a metal, ore, drug, or other material in order to measure its purity or work out exactly which components it contains.
Dr. Leila assayed the gold nugget to confirm its weight in pure metal.
transitive: assay + concrete substance
The lab assays each batch of milk powder for traces of lead and arsenic.
pattern: assay + noun + for + noun
Miners brought small rock samples to the office to be assayed for silver.
Before the coins entered the mint, royal officers assayed them for purity.
Researchers at the hospital assay new drug samples for active ingredients each week.
文法句型
assay + noun (substance)
assay + noun + for + noun
用法筆記
Object is almost always a physical substance (metal, ore, drug, biological sample). Frequently appears in technical writing about mining, metallurgy, pharmacology, and lab work; rare in everyday speech.
常見錯誤
assay — noun
1. a careful laboratory procedure that measures what a metal, drug, or other substa
a careful laboratory procedure that measures what a metal, drug, or other substance is made of, and in what amounts — often used to check purity or to detect a specific chemical, virus, or antibody.
The blood assay showed very low levels of vitamin D in young children.
common collocation: blood assay
Scientists developed a quick assay for the new virus in under three weeks.
pattern: an assay for + target
An assay of the river water revealed harmful chemicals from the nearby paint factory.
The jeweller paid for a gold assay before he set the stones into the ring.
Each vaccine batch must pass a strict assay before nurses give it to patients.
- analysis
broader scientific term; an assay is one specific quantitative analysis of a sample
- test
everyday word; 'assay' implies the precise lab measurement of components or purity
- examination
wider scope; includes visual or non-chemical checks an assay does not
文法句型
an assay of + noun
an assay for + noun
用法筆記
Countable; refers to the test or analysis itself, not its written report. Common in technical contexts: 'blood assay', 'gold assay', 'immunoassay'. The thing being tested is introduced with 'of' (assay of the soil) and the target component with 'for' (assay for mercury).