essay - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'essay' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Essay

[ n.]

- An effort made, or exertion of body or mind, for the performance of anything; a trial; attempt; as, to make an essay to benefit a friend.
- A composition treating of any particular subject; -- usually shorter and less methodical than a formal, finished treatise; as, an essay on the life and writings of Homer; an essay on fossils, or on commerce.
- An assay. See Assay, n.
- To exert one's power or faculties upon; to make an effort to perform; to attempt; to endeavor; to make experiment or trial of; to try.
- To test the value and purity of (metals); to assay. See Assay.

Meaning of 'essay' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . essay

[ v]

Meaning (1):
- make an effort or attempt

Example in sentence:

He sought to improve himself;
He tried to shake off his fears;
She always seeks to do good in the world;
The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps;
The police attempted to stop the thief

Meaning (2):
- put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to

Example in sentence:

Test this recipe;
This approach has been tried with good results

Nearby Words:

essayed essayer essaying essayist essays essence essenced essencing essene essenes

See 'essay' also in:

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Essay appraisal
Essay appraisal is an appraisal strategy requiring the rater to provide a narrative description of an individual’s performance based on the rater’s performance observations.

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