Webster's English Dictionary

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essay

Cross references:
  1. attempt               
 
1. es.say \e-'sa-, 'es-.a-\ vt 1a: to put to a test  1b: ASSAY  2: to make 
   an effort to perform  - es.say.er n
2. es.say \in sense 2 'es-.a-, in other senses also e-'sa-\ n [MF essai, 
   fr. LL exagium act of weighing, fr. ex- + agere] to drive - more at AGENT 
   1a: EFFORT, ATTEMPT; esp : an initial tentative effort  1b: the result or 
   product of an attempt  2a: an analytic or interpretative literary 
   composition usu. dealing with it s subject from a limited or personal point 
   of view 2b: something resembling such a composition  3: TRIAL, TEST  4: a 
   proof of an unaccepted design for a stamp or piece of paper money