Pronunciations (4)
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/pɹuːf/
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- UK
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/pɹuf/
Pronunciation notes
- US
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/pɹʉːf/
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
- New-Zealand
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pɹuːf
Noun
An effort, process, or operation designed to establish or discover a fact or truth; an act of testing; a test; a trial.
Usage- Countable
- Antonyms
- Examples
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I need proof of your unconditional love. Lend me some dough.
More examples (1)
1591, Edmund Spenser, Prosopopoia: or, Mother Hubbard's Tale, later also published in William Michael Rossetti, Humorous Poems, But the false Fox most kindly played his part, For whatsoever mother-wit or art Could work he put in proof. No practice sly, No counterpoint of cunning policy, No reach, no breach, that might him profit bring. But he the same did to his purpose wring.
France I more praise and love; you are, my lord, Yourself for horsemanship much famed; and there You shall have many proofs to shew your skill.
More examples (1)
A given quantity of the spirits was poured upon a quantity of gunpowder in a dish and set on fire. If at the end of the combustion, the gunpowder continued dry enough, it took fire and exploded; but if it had been wetted by the water in the spirits, the flame of the alcohol went out without setting the powder on fire. This was called the proof.
The degree of evidence which convinces the mind of any truth or fact, and produces belief; a test by facts or arguments which induce, or tend to induce, certainty of the judgment; conclusive evidence; demonstration.
Usage- Uncountable
- Examples
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I'll have some proof.
More examples (1)
It was a grand sentence of Emanuel Swedenborg, which would alone indicate the greatness of that man's perception, — "It is no proof of a man's understanding to be able to confirm whatever he pleases; but to be able to discern that what is true is true, and that what is false is false, this is the mark and character of intelligence."
Faith, faith is an island in the setting sun But proof, yes Proof is the bottom line for everyone
The quality or state of having been proved or tried; firmness or hardness which resists impression, or does not yield to force; impenetrability of physical bodies.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
Experience of something.
Usage- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Examples
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But the chaste damzell, that had never priefe / Of such malengine and fine forgerye, / Did easely beleeve her strong extremitye.
Firmness of mind; stability not to be shaken.
Usage- Obsolete
- Uncountable
A proof sheet; a trial impression, as from type, taken for correction or examination.
Usage- Countable
- Examples
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And these men scour the printed proof for error, blunder, and misspelling.
A limited-run high-quality strike of a particular coin, originally as a test run, although nowadays mostly for collectors' sets.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A sequence of statements consisting of axioms, assumptions, statements already demonstrated in another proof, and statements that logically follow from previous statements in the sequence, and which concludes with a statement that is the object of the proof.
Usage- Countable
A process for testing the accuracy of an operation performed. Compare prove, transitive verb, 5.
Usage- Countable
Armour of excellent or tried quality, and deemed impenetrable; properly, armour of proof.
Usage- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapped in proof
A measure of the alcohol content of liquor. Originally, in Britain, 100 proof was defined as 57.1% by volume (no longer used). In the US, 100 proof means that the alcohol content is 50% of the total volume of the liquid; thus, perfectly pure absolute alcohol would be 200 proof.
Usage- US usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
Adjective
Used in proving or testing.
- Examples
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a proof load; a proof charge
Firm or successful in resisting.
- Examples
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proof against harm
waterproof; bombproof
More examples (3)
And opportunity I here have had / To try thee, ſift thee, and confeſs have found thee / Proof againſt all temptation as a rock / Of Adamant, and, as a Center, firm / To the utmoſt of meer man both wiſe and good, / Not more; […]
This was a good, ſtout proof article of faith, pronounced under an anathema, by the venerable fathers of this philoſophick ſynod.
quoted in 1818, Christopher Kelly, History of the French Revolution and of the Wars produced by that Memorable Event The French cavalry, in proof armour, repeatedly charged our squares, their cannon opening chasms; but the British infantry, though greatly diminished, were inflexible and impenetrable to the last.
Being of a certain standard as to alcohol content.
Usage- of alcoholic liquors
- Examples
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60% proof liquor
Verb
To proofread.
Usage- Colloquial
- Intransitive
- Transitive
To make resistant, especially to water.
Usage- Transitive
To test-fire with a load considerably more powerful than the firearm in question's rated maximum chamber pressure, in order to establish the firearm's ability to withstand pressures well in excess of those expected in service without bursting.
Usage- Transitive
To allow (yeast-containing dough) to rise, especially after it has been shaped
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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dough proofing
To test the activeness of (yeast).
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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yeast proofing
Adjective
(used in combination or as a suffix) able to withstand
- Examples
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temptation-proof
childproof locks
Noun
any factual evidence that helps to establish the truth of something
- Synonyms
- Examples
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if you have any proof for what you say, now is the time to produce it
a formal series of statements showing that if one thing is true something else necessarily follows from it
a measure of alcoholic strength expressed as an integer twice the percentage of alcohol present (by volume)
(printing) an impression made to check for errors
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
a trial photographic print from a negative
- Broader terms
the act of validating; finding or testing the truth of something
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
Verb
make or take a proof of, such as a photographic negative, an etching, or typeset
knead to reach proper lightness
- Examples
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proof dough
read for errors
- Synonyms
- Examples
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I should proofread my manuscripts
activate by mixing with water and sometimes sugar or milk
- Examples
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proof yeast
make resistant (to harm)
- Broader terms
- Examples
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proof the materials against shrinking in the dryer