Taste v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Tasting.]
1. To try by the touch; to handle; as, to taste a bow. [Obs.]
Taste it well and stone thou shalt it find. --Chaucer.
2. To try by the touch of the tongue; to perceive the relish or flavor of (anything) by taking a small quantity into a mouth. Also used figuratively.
When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine. --John ii. 9.
When Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of pity or remorse. --Gibbon.
3. To try by eating a little; to eat a small quantity of.
I tasted a little of this honey. --1 Sam. xiv. 29.
4. To become acquainted with by actual trial; to essay; to experience; to undergo.
He . . . should taste death for every man. --Heb. ii. 9.
5. To partake of; to participate in; -- usually with an implied sense of relish or pleasure.
Thou . . . wilt taste
No pleasure, though in pleasure, solitary. --Milton.
Tast·ing, n. The act of perceiving or tasting by the organs of taste; the faculty or sense by which we perceive or distinguish savors.
◄ ►
tasting
n 1: a small amount (especially of food or wine)
2: a kind of sensing; distinguishing substances by means of the
taste buds; "a wine tasting" [syn: taste]
3: taking a small amount into the mouth to test its quality;
"cooking was fine but it was the savoring that he enjoyed
most" [syn: savoring, savouring, relishing, degustation]