Essay

/ˈɛs.eɪ/ · noun

Meaning

(publishing) A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject..

Definitions by Sense

1. (publishing) A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject.
2. (obsolete) A test, experiment; an assay.
3. (now rare) An attempt.
4. (philately, finance) A proposed design for a postage stamp or a banknote.
5. (dated, transitive) To attempt or try.
6. (intransitive) To move forth, as into battle.

Example Sentences

In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.”

My first essay at getting employment was fruitless; but after no small number of mortifying rebuffs from various parties to whom I applied for assistance, I was at last rewarded by a comparative success.

This was Lee's first essay in the kind of offensive-defensive strategy that was to become his hallmark.

Shall we essay a walk on the promenade?

He retraced his steps to the front gate, which he essayed to open.

The train took the slow to branch spur at the north end at a not much slower speed, then essayed the short sharply curved climb with a terrific roar, smoke rising straight from the chimney to a height of some 60 ft., the long train twisting and curling behind.

They, at least, had talked about it. And however full of death and darkness their accounts had been, they'd at least essayed a certain personal honesty.

There was the counter, there was the bulletin board, above her the dull sound of music being played over headphones. Something jaunty. She liked the beat. Then the sound of a chair being pushed back, and someone humming as they walked away from her, and she darted up to plunge the bayonet into their kidneys from behind. A followup stroke through the back of the neck, and the second soldier was down. She didn't even stop to see if it was a man or a woman, young or old. There were further hurdles to essay before she reached her destination.

Synonyms for essay

Antonyms for essay

Related Words

Word Forms

• essays
• essaying
• essayed

Usage Notes

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