quiz

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

quiz, n. [It is said that Daly, the manager of a Dublin playhouse, laid a wager that a new word of no meaning should be the common talk and puzzle of the city in twenty-four hours. In consequence of this the letters q u i z were chalked by him on all the walls of Dublin, with an effect that won the wager. Perhaps, however, originally a variant of whiz, and formerly the name of a popular game.].

•  A riddle or obscure question; an enigma; a ridiculous hoax.  [1913 Webster]
•  One who quizzes others; as, he is a great quiz.  [1913 Webster]
•  An odd or absurd fellow.  Smart. Thackeray.  [1913 Webster]
•  An exercise, or a course of exercises, conducted as a coaching or as an examination.  [1913 Webster]

quiz, v. t. 

•  To puzzle; to banter; to chaff or mock with pretended seriousness of discourse; to make sport of, as by obscure questions.  [1913 Webster]

  "He quizzed unmercifully all the men in the room."  [1913 Webster]
•  To peer at; to eye suspiciously or mockingly.  [1913 Webster]
•  To instruct in or by a quiz. See Quiz, n., 4.  [1913 Webster]

Quizzing glass, a small eyeglass.

quiz, v. i. 

 To conduct a quiz. See Quiz, n., 4.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

quiz, n. & v.
--n. (pl. quizzes)
1 a test of knowledge, esp. between individuals or teams as a form of entertainment.
2 an interrogation, examination, or questionnaire.
--v.tr. (quizzed, quizzing) examine by questioning.

Idiom

quiz-master a person who presides over a quiz.

quiz, v. & n. archaic
--v.tr. (quizzed, quizzing)
1 look curiously at; observe the ways or oddities of; survey through an eyeglass.
2 make sport of; regard with a mocking air.
--n. (pl. quizzes)
1 a hoax, a thing done to burlesque or expose another's oddities.
2 a an odd or eccentric person; a person of ridiculous appearance. b a person given to quizzing.

Derivative

quizzer n.

Etymology

18th c.: orig. unkn.

THESAURUS

quiz

Socratic method, ask, asking, audition, be curious, blue book, bringing into question, burn with curiosity, case, catechetical method, catechization, catechize, catechizing, challenge, character, deride, dig around for, dig up, dispute, duck, exam, examen, examination, examine, final, final examination, gape, gawk, great go, grill, hearing, honors, inquire, inquiring, interpellation, interrogate, interrogation, interview, lout, midsemester, midterm, mock, nose around for, nose out, oddball, oddity, oral, oral examination, original, peer, prelim, probing, pump, pumping, query, querying, question, questioning, quizzing, rally, razz, rubber, rubberneck, scout, seek, seeking, spook, stare, take-home examination, taunt, test, trial, tripos, twit, viva, want to know, worm out of, written, written examination, zombie

ROGET THESAURUS

quiz

Ridicule

N ridicule, derision, sardonic smile, sardonic grin, irrision, scoffing, mockery, quiz, banter, irony, persiflage, raillery, chaff, badinage, quizzing, asteism, squib, satire, skit, quip, quib, grin, parody, burlesque, travesty, travestie, farce, caricature, buffoonery, practical joke, horseplay, scorn, contempt, derisory, derisive, mock, mocking, sarcastic, ironic, ironical, quizzical, burlesque, Hudibrastic, scurrilous, in ridicule.

VB ridicule, deride, mock, taunt, snigger, laugh in one's sleeve, tease, badinage, banter, rally, chaff, joke, twit, quiz, roast, haze, tehee, fleer, show up, play upon, play tricks upon, fool to the top of one's bent, laugh at, grin at, smile at, poke fun at, satirize, parody, caricature, burlesque, travesty, turn into ridicule, make merry with, make fun of, make game of, make a fool of, make an April fool of, rally, scoff, raise a laugh, play the fool, make a fool of oneself.

Laughingstock

N laughingstock, jestingstock, gazingstock, butt, game, fair game, April fool, original, oddity, queer fish, odd fish, quiz, square toes, old monkey, old fogey, fogey monkey, fogy monkey, buffoon, pantomimist, schlemiel, jest, dum vitant stulti vitia in contraria currunt.