test the water
test the water is the alternative form of test the waters.
Meaning of test the waters
Verb
test the waters (third-person singular simple present tests the waters, present participle testing the waters, simple past and past participle tested the waters)
- To explore or probe, as before making a commitment.
- Taking classes in a subject is a good way to test the waters and explore a potential career.
Forms of test the water
| third-person singular present | tests the water |
|---|---|
| present participle | testing the water |
| past participle | tested the water |
| past | tested the water |
Questions about test the water
- What is test the water the alternative form of?
- Test the water is the alternative form of test the waters.
Words near test the water in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: test the water (page history and authors); test the waters (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “test the water.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/test_the_water. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.