Meaning & use
test subject
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person or animal that takes part in an experiment so researchers can observe how they react or behave.
Grammar: Refers to a person or animal: ten test subjects joined the trial.
Patterns
- a test subject for something
- serve as a test subject
Each test subject wore a heart monitor during the study.
The lab used mice as test subjects for the new drug.
She volunteered as a test subject in a sleep experiment.
nouncountableinformalhumorous
Someone or something chosen to try out a product, idea or method, often in a lighthearted way.
Grammar: Used more loosely, often humorous: my family were my test subjects.
Patterns
- be a test subject for something
My friends were the test subjects for my first attempt at baking bread.
The town was the test subject for the new recycling plan.
He turned his little sister into a test subject for his magic tricks.
Word forms
| plural | test subjects |
|---|
Common combinations
- human test subject
- A human test subject must give written consent.
- animal test subject
- Mice are a common animal test subject.
- volunteer test subject
- The study needs a volunteer test subject for each group.
- recruit test subjects
- The university will recruit test subjects next week.
- serve as a test subject
- He agreed to serve as a test subject.
Synonyms and how they differ
- participant
- Participant is the polite, modern term for humans in studies, while test subject can sound clinical or passive.
- guinea pig
- Guinea pig is informal and often figurative, meaning someone used to try something out.
- respondent
- Respondent is used for people answering a survey, not for experiments.
- volunteer
- Volunteer stresses that the person chose to take part, which a test subject does not always imply.
Opposites
Word family
- test verb
- to try something to see how it works
- subject noun
- a person or thing being studied or discussed
- testing noun
- the process of trying something out
- experiment noun
- a scientific procedure to learn something
Commonly confused: test subject or test case?
test subject vs test case
A test case is an example used to see whether a rule or system works, not a living participant.
Practice
The scientists asked for twenty volunteers to act as ______ in the memory study.
Choose one answer.
Test subjects are the people observed in an experiment. Test papers are written exams and the other options do not name study participants.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “test subject”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.