1 : an act of carefully looking at or examining the quality or condition of something or someone : examination or inspection [count] ▪ Changes to the building had to be made after the review by the safety inspectors. — often + of ▪ a review of the case ▪ a review of their research/evidence ▪ a review of the policy/rules/regulations ▪ I was disappointed with my salary/pay review. [=a review of an employee's work and performance by an employer to decide by how much his or her pay or salary should be increased] [noncount] ▪ After hours of review, the committee made its decision. ▪ a review board/committee ▪ The medical records were sent to the doctor for review. ▪ The grant application is up for review. [=the application for the grant will be looked at] ▪ The book/policy/ruling is under review. [=is being reviewed] ▪ (formal) On review of [=after reviewing] the evidence, the jury finds the defendant guilty. ▪ Upon further review of your situation [=after spending more time looking at and thinking about your situation], we have decided to grant your request. ▪ The decision is subject to review by a higher authority. [=the decision might be studied and then changed by someone who has more power] — see also peer review 2 a : a report that gives someone's opinion about the quality of a book, performance, product, etc. [count] ▪ I read the book/film reviews in the newspaper. ▪ Reviews of the play were good. [=the people who wrote the reviews liked the play] ▪ Critics gave the new album mixed reviews. [=some critics liked the album, while other critics did not] ▪ a favorable review ▪ The movie received rave reviews. [=reviews that say it is excellent] [noncount] ▪ Copies of the book were sent to critics for review. = Review copies of the book were sent to critics. [=copies of the book were sent to critics so that they could read it and then write reviews about it] ▪ The educational software was sent to teachers for review.
b [count] : a magazine filled mostly with reviews and articles that describe the writer's thoughts or opinions about a subject — often used in titles ▪ He wrote an article for The Annual Review of Biology. ▪ The Western New England Law Review 3 [count] : a class, a book, an article, etc., that studies or describes something (such as events from a particular time) : survey — usually + of ▪ a review of 19th-century American art ▪ a review of the year's major events ▪ The seminar is a review of the writer's career. 4 US : the act of studying information that was studied before [count] ▪ The teacher allowed one more review of our notes before the test. [noncount] ▪ I haven't done enough review [=(Brit) revision] for the exam. 5 [count] military : a formal inspection by officers of high rank or by an important person
▪ a review of the cadets