Essay dictionary meaning

› literature a short piece of writing on a particular subject, often expressing personal views. › In a school test, an essay is a written answer that includes information and discussion, usually to test how well the student understands the subject.

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. These are words often used in combination with essay. Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense, plural essays , present participle essaying, past tense, past participle essayedpronunciation note: The noun is pronounced (eseɪ). The verb is pronounced (eseɪ). 1. countable noun. An essay is a short piece of writing on one particular subject written by a student.

1. a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usu. in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative. 2. anything resembling such a composition: a picture essay. 3. an effort to perform or accomplish something; attempt. 4. to try; attempt. 5. to put to the test; make trial of. es•say′er, n.