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on trial

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tri⋅al

  [trahy-uhl, trahyl]
Use on trial in a Sentence
–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.
—Idiom
15. on trial,
a. undergoing examination before a judicial tribunal.
b. undergoing a probationary or trial period.
Origin:
1520–30; try + -al 2

Synonyms:
2, 3, 5. examination. Trial, experiment, test imply an attempt to find out something or to find out about something. Trial is the general word for a trying of anything: articles sent for ten days' free trial. Experiment 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. Test 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. 2009.
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tri·al   (trī'əl, trīl)   
n.  

  1. Law Examination of evidence and applicable law by a competent tribunal to determine the issue of specified charges or claims.

    1. The act or process of testing, trying, or putting to the proof: a trial of one's faith.

    2. An instance of such testing, especially as part of a series of tests or experiments: a clinical trial of a drug.

  3. An effort or attempt: succeeded on the third trial.

  4. A state of pain or anguish that tests patience, endurance, or belief: "the fiery trial through which we pass" (Abraham Lincoln).

  5. A trying, troublesome, or annoying person or thing: The child was a trial to his parents.

  6. A preliminary competition or test to determine qualifications, as in a sport.

adj.  

  1. Of, relating to, or used in a trial.

  2. Attempted or advanced on a provisional or experimental basis: a trial separation.

  3. Made or done in the course of a trial or test.


[Middle English triall, a testing, from Anglo-Norman trial, from trier, to sort, try.]
Synonyms: These nouns denote distress or suffering that severely tests resiliency and character: no consolation in their hour of trial; the affliction of a bereaved family; the crucible of revolution; the ordeal of being an innocent murder suspect; a time of relentless tribulation. See Also Synonyms at burden1.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: tri·al
Function: noun
Etymology: Anglo-French, from trier to try
: a judicial examination of issues of fact or law disputed by parties for the purpose of determining the rights of the parties —compare HEARING, INQUEST—at trial : in or during the course of a trial
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: tri·al
Pronunciation: 'trI(-&)l
Function: noun
1 : a tryout or experiment to test quality, value, or usefulness trial of a drug>
2 : one of a number of repetitions of an experiment
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

on trial

  1. 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]

  2. 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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