trial
Law.
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.
the determination of a person's guilt or innocence by due process of law.
the act of trying, testing, or putting to the proof.
test; proof.
an attempt or effort to do something.
a tentative or experimental action in order to ascertain results; experiment.
the state or position of a person or thing being tried or tested; probation.
subjection to suffering or grievous experiences; a distressed or painful state: comfort in the hour of trial.
an affliction or trouble.
a trying, distressing, or annoying thing or person.
Ceramics. a piece of ceramic material used to try the heat of a kiln and the progress of the firing of its contents.
of, relating to, or employed in a trial.
done or made by way of trial, proof, or experiment.
used in testing, experimenting, etc.
acting or serving as a sample, experimental specimen, etc.: a trial offer.
Idioms about trial
on trial,
undergoing examination before a judicial tribunal.
undergoing a probationary or trial period.
Origin of trial
1synonym study For trial
Other words for trial
Other words from trial
- in·ter·tri·al, adjective
- non·tri·al, noun
- post·tri·al, adjective
- re·tri·al, noun
- self-trial, noun
Words that may be confused with trial
- trail, trial
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use trial in a sentence
The trials produced positive results, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in November.
Human trials of the Ebola vaccine have been temporarily shut down due to adverse side effects.
Short trials produce convictions and sentences, but the time is often run concurrently, not adding any time to the sentence.
She faces a jury of famous villains and a judge from the Salem witch trials.
Rick better get used to torturous trials because they are never going away.
The Walking Dead’s Luke Skywalker: Rick Grimes Is the Perfect Modern-Day Mythical Hero | Regina Lizik | October 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
In a thousand trials the cruel witness of Moses has sent innocent women to a painful death.
God and my Neighbour | Robert BlatchfordBut Yung Pak was not allowed to share the pleasures and the trials of the boys in the public school.
Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. PikeThat Lannes would have emerged superior to these trials his previous career affords strong reason to presume.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonIt was a history of the lives and trials of great criminals, and the pages were soiled and thumbed with use.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3) | Charles DickensSince it was altered there have been three other trials; the result was 147 to 35 in favour of the pressure of the steam-engine.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick
British Dictionary definitions for trial (1 of 2)
/ (ˈtraɪəl, traɪl) /
the act or an instance of trying or proving; test or experiment
(as modifier): a trial run
law
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
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
(as modifier): trial proceedings
an effort or attempt to do something: we had three trials at the climb
trouble or grief
an annoying or frustrating person or thing
(often plural) a competition for individuals: sheepdog trials
a motorcycling competition in which the skills of the riders are tested over rough ground
ceramics a piece of sample material used for testing the heat of a kiln and its effects
on trial
undergoing trial, esp before a court of law
being tested, as before a commitment to purchase
(tr) to test or make experimental use of (something): the idea has been trialled in several schools
Origin of trial
1Derived forms of trial
- trialling, noun
British Dictionary definitions for trial (2 of 2)
/ (ˈtraɪəl) /
a grammatical number occurring in some languages for words in contexts where exactly three of their referents are described or referred to
(modifier) relating to or inflected for this number
Origin of trial
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with trial
In addition to the idioms beginning with trial
- trial and error
- trial balloon
- trial by fire
- trials and tribulations
also see:
- on trial
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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