touchstone, pix[obs3]; assay, ordeal; ring;
litmus paper, curcuma paper[obs3], turmeric paper; test tube; analytical instruments &c. 633.
     empiricism, rule of thumb.
     feeler; trial balloon, pilot balloon, messenger balloon; pilot engine;
scout; straw to show the wind.
     speculation, random shot, leap in the dark.
     analyzer, analyst, assayist[obs3]; adventurer; experimenter,
experimentist[obs3], experimentalist; scientist, engineer, technician.
     subject, experimentee[obs3], guinea pig, experimental animal.
     [experimental method] protocol, experimental method, blind experiment,
double-blind experiment, controlled experiment.
     poll, survey, opinion poll.
     epidemiological survey[Med], retrospective analysis, retrospective
survey, prospective survey, prospective analysis; statistical analysis.
     literature search, library research.
     tryout, audition.
     [results of experiment] discovery &c 480; measurement &c. 466;
evidence &c. 467.
     [reasoning about an experiment] deduction, induction, abduction. 
     V. experiment; essay &c. (endeavor) 675; try, try out, assay; make an
experiment, make a trial of; give a trial to; put on trial, subject to trial; experiment upon; rehearse; put to the test, bring to the test, submit to the test, submit to the proof; prove, verify, test, touch, practice upon, try one’s strength; road-test, test drive, take for a spin; test fly.
     grope; feel one’s way, grope for one’s way; fumble, ttonner, aller 
ttons[Fr], put out a feeler, throw out a feeler; send up a trial balloon, send up a pilot balloon; see how the land lies, get the lay of the land, test the waters, feel out, sound out, take the pulse, see, check, check out[coll.], see how the wind blows; consult the barometer; feel the pulse; fish for, bob for; cast for, beat about for; angle, trawl, cast one’s net, beat the bushes.
     try one’s fortune &c. (adventure) 675; explore &c. (inquire) 461. 
     Adj. experimental, empirical.
     probative, probatory[obs3], probationary, provisional; analytic,
docimastic[obs3]; tentative;unverified, unproven, speculative, untested. 
     Adv. on trial, under examination, on probation, under probation, on
one’s trial, on approval. 
     Phr. check it out, give it a try, see how it goes; “Run it up the
flagpole and see who salutes.”

     #464.  Comparison. —­ N. comparison, collation, contrast;
identification; comparative estimate, relative estimate, relativity.
     simile, similitude, analogy (similarity) 17; allegory &c. (metaphor)
521.
     matching, pattern-matching.
     [quantitative comparison] ratio, proportion (number) 84.
     [results of comparison] discrimination 465; indiscrimination
465a[obs3]; identification 465b. 
     V. compare to, compare with; collate, confront; place side by side,
juxtapose &c. (near) 197; set against one another,