on trial
əl, traɪl noun
1.
Law.
a.
the examination before a judicial tribunal of the facts put in issue in a cause, often including issues of law as well as those of fact.
b.
the determination of a person's guilt or innocence by due process of law.
2.
the act of trying, testing, or putting to the proof.
3.
test; proof.
4.
an attempt or effort to do something.
5.
a tentative or experimental action in order to ascertain results; experiment.
6.
the state or position of a person or thing being tried or tested; probation.
7.
subjection to suffering or grievous experiences; a distressed or painful state: comfort in the hour of trial.
8.
an affliction or trouble.
9.
a trying, distressing, or annoying thing or person.
10.
Ceramics. a piece of ceramic material used to try the heat of a kiln and the progress of the firing of its contents.
adjective
11.
of, pertaining to, or employed in a trial.
12.
done or made by way of trial, proof, or experiment.
13.
used in testing, experimenting, etc.
14.
acting or serving as a sample, experimental specimen, etc.: a trial offer.
00:10
On trial
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
15.
on trial,
a.
undergoing examination before a judicial tribunal.
b.
undergoing a probationary or trial period.
Related forms
in·ter·tri·al, adjective
non·tri·al, noun
post·tri·al, adjective
re·tri·al, noun
self-tri·al, noun
Synonyms
2, 3, 5. examination. T rial , experiment , test imply an attempt to find out something or to find out about something. T rial is the general word for a trying of anything: articles sent for ten days' free trial. E xperiment is a trial conducted to prove or illustrate the truth or validity of something, or an attempt to discover something new: an experiment in organic chemistry. T est is a more specific word, referring to a trial under approved and fixed conditions, or a final and decisive trial as a conclusion of past experiments: a test of a new type of airplane. 4. endeavor, essay, struggle. 7. grief, tribulation, distress, sorrow, trouble, hardship. See affliction.
2, 3, 5. examination. T rial , experiment , test imply an attempt to find out something or to find out about something. T rial is the general word for a trying of anything: articles sent for ten days' free trial. E xperiment is a trial conducted to prove or illustrate the truth or validity of something, or an attempt to discover something new: an experiment in organic chemistry. T est is a more specific word, referring to a trial under approved and fixed conditions, or a final and decisive trial as a conclusion of past experiments: a test of a new type of airplane. 4. endeavor, essay, struggle. 7. grief, tribulation, distress, sorrow, trouble, hardship. See affliction.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To on trial
Collins
World English Dictionary
trial1 (ˈtraɪəl, traɪl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a. the act or an instance of trying or proving; test or experiment |
| b. (as modifier): a trial run | |
| 2. | law |
| a. the judicial examination of the issues in a civil or criminal cause by a competent tribunal and the determination of these issues in accordance with the law of the land | |
| b. the determination of an accused person's guilt or innocence after hearing evidence for the prosecution and for the accused and the judicial examination of the issues involved | |
| c. (as modifier): trial proceedings | |
| 3. | an effort or attempt to do something: we had three trials at the climb |
| 4. | trouble or grief |
| 5. | an annoying or frustrating person or thing |
| 6. | (often plural) a competition for individuals: sheepdog trials |
| 7. | a motorcycling competition in which the skills of the riders are tested over rough ground |
| 8. | ceramics a piece of sample material used for testing the heat of a kiln and its effects |
| 9. | on trial |
| a. undergoing trial, esp before a court of law | |
| b. being tested, as before a commitment to purchase | |
| —vb , trials, trialling, trialled | |
| 10. | (tr) to test or make experimental use of (something): the idea has been trialled in several schools |
| [C16: from Anglo-French, from trier to | |
| 'trialling1 | |
| —n | |
| trial2 (ˈtraɪəl) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a grammatical number occurring in some languages for words in contexts where exactly three of their referents are described or referred to |
| 2. | (modifier) relating to or inflected for this number |
| [C19: from | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
trial
1436, "act or process of testing," from Anglo-Fr. trial, noun formed from triet "to try" (see try). Sense of "examining and deciding a case in a court of law" is first recorded 1577; extended to any ordeal by 1595.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
on trial
-
In the process of being tried, especially in a court of law. For example, He would be put on trial for the murder of his wife. [Early 1700s]
-
As a test of something, on probation, as in They said we could take the vacuum cleaner on trial and return it if it was too noisy. [Early 1700s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Nearby Words
Synonyms
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