_quiz_
Verb.
Pronunciation: kwɪz.
Etymology: of uncertain origin.
Preterite tense: quizzed;
preterite participle: quizzed; present
participle: quizzing.
Transitively: 1. a.
To
make fun of (someone), by addressing something facetious to him, particularly,
by one or more questions.
It is dated from
the end of 1700.
Synonyms: to
mock at (some one), banter, chaff, rally, jeer, ridicule.
Translation: embromar, in Spanish; dileggiare, in Italian; plaisanter (quelqu’un), in French.
Arabella
was quizzing Sue with more regard of how
she was speaking than of what she was saying.
Thomas Hardy… Jude the Obscure
He
says there's a great deal of poetry in brewing beer, but of course he's only quizzing us.
Anthony Trollope… Rachel Ray
b. To quiz (someone) out of: to dissuade
(a person) from something by jesting him. Cf. To banter someone out of.
Cary,
like a dear kind girl as she is, laughed and quizzed me out of my delusion…
Charles Lever… The Dodd Family Abroad
2. Unusual: to
regard; to eye.
Went
to the theatre, to look for Gruff. Saw him sitting in a side box, in the second
tier, between a fat lady and a lean one. Quizzed the whole party through an
opera-glass, till I saw the fat lady blush and whisper to G.
Edgar Poe
He
used to quiz me with his eye-glass from
the drawing-room windows.
Arabella Argus… Further adventures…
3. To refer a
quiz or question to (a person). Particularlly in U. S. A.: to
examine (a student) orally.
It is dated from
the beginning of 1800.
Synonyms: to question, interrogate.
"Oh!
So you've got your own list all made out?" he quizzed.
Eleanor Abbott… The Sick-a-Bed Lady
She
was silent for the most part on the road that day, though whiles she would be quizzing her brother about the lassies in the college town.
John Sillars… The McBrides
I
was endeavouring to think of a rhyme for sympathetic, when I heard footsteps in
the Lime- tree walk, behind, and presently found that Barton and his wife were
walking there. It was very awkward for me; I durst not move, because I thought
they would quiz me about my verses, if they should see me with the pencil and
paper, and yet I did not like to keep quiet, for I could hear every word they
said, and I found they were talking about myself.
Elizabeth Strutt… Chances and changes
Edouard
tells me he saw you kissing a beggar's brat. The young rogue was going to quiz you about it at the dinner-table;
luckily, he told me his intention, and I would not let him.
Charles Reade… White lies
Words derived from QUIZ: quizzer,
quizzable, quizzability, quizzacious, quizzatorial, quizzee, quizzery,
quizzical, quizzicality, quizzicalness, quizzically, quizzification, quizzify,
quizziness, quizzing, quizzingly, quizzity, quizzy.
