ASSAY

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does assay mean? 

• ASSAY (noun)
  The noun ASSAY has 4 senses:

1. an appraisal of the state of affairs

2. a substance that is undergoing an analysis of its components

3. a written report of the results of an analysis of the composition of some substance

4. a quantitative or qualitative test of a substance (especially an ore or a drug) to determine its components; frequently used to test for the presence or concentration of infectious agents or antibodies etc.

  Familiarity information: ASSAY used as a noun is uncommon.

• ASSAY (verb)
  The verb ASSAY has 2 senses:

1. analyze (chemical substances)

2. make an effort or attempt

  Familiarity information: ASSAY used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ASSAY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An appraisal of the state of affairs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

assay; check

Context example:

a check on its dependability under stress

Hypernyms ("assay" is a kind of...):

appraisal; assessment (the classification of someone or something with respect to its worth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assay"):

countercheck; double check (something that checks the correctness of a previous check)

Apgar score (an assessment of the physical condition of a newborn infant; involves heart rate and muscle tone and respiratory effort and color and reflex responsiveness)

paternity test (a test based on blood groups to determine whether a particular man could be the biological father of a particular child; negative results prove he was not the father but positive results show only that he could be)

stress test (a test measuring how a system functions when subjected to controlled amounts of stress)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A substance that is undergoing an analysis of its components

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("assay" is a kind of...):

substance (a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A written report of the results of an analysis of the composition of some substance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("assay" is a kind of...):

report; study; written report (a written document describing the findings of some individual or group)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A quantitative or qualitative test of a substance (especially an ore or a drug) to determine its components; frequently used to test for the presence or concentration of infectious agents or antibodies etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("assay" is a kind of...):

run; test; trial (the act of testing something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assay"):

immunohistochemistry (an assay that shows specific antigens in tissues by the use of markers that are either fluorescent dyes or enzymes (such as horseradish peroxidase))

diagnostic assay; diagnostic test (an assay conducted for diagnostic purposes)

bio-assay; bioassay (appraisal of the biological activity of a substance by testing its effect on an organism and comparing the result with some agreed standard)

ELISA; enzyme-linked-immunosorbent serologic assay (an assay that relies on an enzymatic conversion reaction and is used to detect the presence of specific substances (such as enzymes or viruses or antibodies or bacteria))

Derivation:

assay (analyze (chemical substances))

• ASSAY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they assay    ... he / she / it assays   
Past simple: assayed   
Past participle: assayed   
-ing form: assaying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Analyze (chemical substances)

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "assay" is one way to...):

analyse; analyze; canvass; examine; study (consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "assay"):

bioassay (subject to a bio-assay)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

assay (a quantitative or qualitative test of a substance (especially an ore or a drug) to determine its components; frequently used to test for the presence or concentration of infectious agents or antibodies etc.)

assayer (an analyst who assays (performs chemical tests on) metals)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make an effort or attempt

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

assay; attempt; essay; seek; try

Context example:

She always seeks to do good in the world

Hypernyms (to "assay" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "assay"):

pick up the gauntlet; take a dare (be dared to do something and attempt it)

fight; struggle (make a strenuous or labored effort)

give it a try; have a go (make an attempt at something)

grope (search blindly or uncertainly)

endeavor; endeavour; strive (attempt by employing effort)

give it a try; give it a whirl (try)

adventure; chance; gamble; hazard; risk; run a risk; take a chance; take chances (take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome)

lay on the line; put on the line; risk (expose to a chance of loss or damage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They assay to move

 Context examples 

A screening assay for circulating complement proteins in which diluted serum samples are added to antibody-coated erythrocytes and the percentage of cell lysis is measured.

(Complement Hemolytic Activity Assay, NCI Thesaurus)

An assay to detect the presence and level of 12 cytokines in a blood sample (IFN gamma, IL1 beta, IL10, IL12, IL13, IL2, IL2R, IL4, IL5, IL6, IL8, TNF alpha).

(Cytokine Panel 12, NCI Thesaurus)

Daniplestim exhibits 10- to 20-fold greater biological activity than recombinant human IL-3 in human hematopoietic cell proliferation and marrow colony-forming-unit assays.

(Daniplestim, NCI Thesaurus)

This assay can measure the cytotoxicity of a chemical or drug by determining the affect of treatment on cell viability.

(Colorimetric Cell Viability Assay, NCI Thesaurus)

The determination of the measured concentrations of chemical constituents of the blood by assay in a clinical laboratory.

(Blood Chemistry Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

The new test is an immuno-assay and depends on a very specifically reactive monoclonal antibody—a lab-produced protein that detects and binds only with a specific target.

(New Test Identifies Poisonous Mushrooms, Agricultural Research Service)

It has the advantage of being a less costly assay that does not require fluorescence microscopy with results that are stable over time.

(Chromogenic In Situ Hybridization, NCI Thesaurus)

A functional (qualitative) as well as quantitative assay that is utilized as an indicator of granulopoiesis reconstitution.

(Colony-Forming Unit-Granulocyte Macrophage Assay, NCI Thesaurus)

EXAMPLE(S): Arterial puncture, sphygmomanometry (for blood pressure measurement) Global introspection, algorithm, Bayesian (for Adverse Event causality)Estrogen Receptor Assay, Progesterone Receptor Assay, p53 Assay (for clinical result assay)

(Defined Observation Method Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

Conventional techniques used for testing for the hybridization product include dot blot assays, Southern blot assays, and DNA:RNA hybrid-specific antibody tests.

(DNA Probes, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)