ɪɡˌzæmɪˈneɪʃən ˈtɛstɪŋ the act of giving students or candidates a test (as by questions) to determine what they know or have learned the act of subjecting to experimental test in order to determine how well something works they agreed to end the testing of atomic weapons an examination of the characteristics of something there are laboratories for commercial testing it involved testing thousands of children for smallpox