• Tester

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /ˈtÉ›stÉ™/
    • Rhymes: -É›stÉ™(r)

    Origin 1

    Probably from Old French testre, from Latin testa.

    Full definition of tester

    Noun

    tester

    (plural testers)
    1. A canopy over a bed etc.
      • WalpoleNo testers to the bed, and the saddles and portmanteaus heaped on me to keep off the cold.
      • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick,With our shaggy jackets drawn about our shoulders, we now passed the Tomahawk from one to the other, till slowly there grew over us a blue hanging tester of smoke, illuminated by the flame of the new-lit lamp.
      • 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 1, The half-dozen pieces … were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids.   The bed was the most extravagant piece.  Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.

    Origin 2

    File:Acremeter tube tester.jpg|right|thumb|A

    From test + -er.

    Noun

    tester

    (plural testers)
    1. A person who administers a test.
    2. A device used for testing.
    3. (Australia, slang, obsolete) A punishment of 25 lashes (strokes of a whip) across a person′s back.1987, Robert Hughes (critic), , 1996, paperback, ISBN 1-86046-150-6, Chapter 12.
    4. A sample of perfume available in a shop for customers to try before they buy.

    Synonyms

    Origin 3

    For testern, teston, from French teston, from Old French teste the head, the head of the king being impressed upon the coin. See tester a covering, and compare testone, testoon.

    Noun

    tester

    (plural testers)
    1. An old French silver coin.
    2. (UK, slang, dated) A sixpence.

    Synonyms

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