false-positive

[ fawls-poz-i-tiv ]

nounAlso false positive .
  1. Medicine/Medical.

    • a test result that is incorrect because the test indicated a condition or finding that does not exist: a false-positive for syphilis.

    • a person who receives this test result.

    • any screening test result that incorrectly detected or classified a person or thing: A false-positive at the airport could cause you to miss your flight.

    • a person or thing identified by such a test.

adjective
  1. pertaining to or being a false-positive: The test has a false-positive rate of 4%.

Origin of false-positive

1
First recorded in 1910–15

Words Nearby false-positive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use false-positive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for false positive

false positive

noun
  1. a result in a medical test that wrongly indicates the presence of the condition being tested for

  2. a person from whom such a result is obtained

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012