[Fr. éprouvette, f. éprouver to try, to test.]
1. An apparatus for testing the strength of gunpowder. Also attrib.
1781. Thompson, in Phil. Trans., LXXI. 298. All the eprouvettes, or powder-triers, in common use are defective.
1839. Sat. Mag., Supp. Jan., 40/1. Another form of éprouvette was devised by the late Dr. Hutton.
1846. Greener, Sc. Gunnery, 37. Where experiments are conducted … with moveable eprouvettes, a certain loss is sustained.
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., s.v. Éprouvette-gun, The éprouvette-mortar of the British service is 8 inches in diameter.
2. A spoon used in assaying metals.
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., Éprouvette, a flux spoon. A spoon for sampling an assay.
