trial

Noun

Synonyms: test run trial run tryout tribulation visitation

WordNet 3.0

Noun (6)

the act of testing something“in the experimental trials the amount of carbon was measured separately”“he called each flip of the coin a new trial”Synonyms: test run
trying something to find out about it“a sample for ten days free trial”“a trial of progesterone failed to relieve the pain”Synonyms: trial run test tryout
the act of undergoing testing“he survived the great test of battle”“candidates must compete in a trial of skill”Synonyms: test
(law) the determination of a person's innocence or guilt by due process of law“he had a fair trial and the jury found him guilty”“most of these complaints are settled before they go to trial”
(sports) a preliminary competition to determine qualifications“the trials for the semifinals began yesterday”
an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event“his mother-in-law's visits were a great trial for him”“life is full of tribulations”“a visitation of the plague”Synonyms: tribulation visitation

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Trial \Tri"al\, n. [From Try.]

1.The act of trying or testing in any manner. Specifically: [1913 Webster]

(a) Any effort or exertion of strength for the purpose of ascertaining what can be done or effected. [1913 Webster]

[I] defy thee to the trial of mortal fight. --Milton. [1913 Webster] (b) The act of testing by experience; proof; test. [1913 Webster]

Repeated trials of the issues and events of actions. --Bp. Wilkins. [1913 Webster] (c) Examination by a test; experiment, as in chemistry, metallurgy, etc. [1913 Webster]

2.The state of being tried or tempted; exposure to suffering that tests strength, patience, faith, or the like; affliction or temptation that exercises and proves the graces or virtues of men. [1913 Webster]

Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings.— Heb. xi. 36.[1913 Webster]

3.That which tries or afflicts; that which harasses; that which tries the character or principles; that which tempts to evil; as, his child's conduct was a sore trial. [1913 Webster]

Every station is exposed to some trials.— Rogers.[1913 Webster]

4.(Law) The formal examination of the matter in issue in a cause before a competent tribunal; the mode of determining a question of fact in a court of law; the examination, in legal form, of the facts in issue in a cause pending before a competent tribunal, for the purpose of determining such issue. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Test; attempt; endeavor; effort; experiment; proof; essay. See Test, and Attempt. [1913 Webster]

The Devil's Dictionary

TRIAL, n. A formal inquiry designed to prove and put upon record the blameless characters of judges, advocates and jurors. In order to effect this purpose it is necessary to supply a contrast in the person of one who is called the defendant, the prisoner, or the accused. If the contrast is made sufficiently clear this person is made to undergo such an affliction as will give the virtuous gentlemen a comfortable sense of their immunity, added to that of their worth. In our day the accused is usually a human being, or a socialist, but in mediaeval times, animals, fishes, reptiles and insects were brought to trial. A beast that had taken human life, or practiced sorcery, was duly arrested, tried and, if condemned, put to death by the public executioner. Insects ravaging grain fields, orchards or vineyards were cited to appeal by counsel before a civil tribunal, and after testimony, argument and condemnation, if they continued _in contumaciam_ the matter was taken to a high ecclesiastical court, where they were solemnly excommunicated and anathematized. In a street of Toledo, some pigs that had wickedly run between the viceroy's legs, upsetting him, were arrested on a warrant, tried and punished. In Naples and ass was condemned to be burned at the stake, but the sentence appears not to have been executed. D'Addosio relates from the court records many trials of pigs, bulls, horses, cocks, dogs, goats, etc., greatly, it is believed, to the betterment of their conduct and morals. In 1451 a suit was brought against the leeches infesting some ponds about Berne, and the Bishop of Lausanne, instructed by the faculty of Heidelberg University, directed that some of "the aquatic worms" be brought before the local magistracy. This was done and the leeches, both present and absent, were ordered to leave the places that they had infested within three days on pain of incurring "the malediction of God." In the voluminous records of this _cause celebre_ nothing is found to show whether the offenders braved the punishment, or departed forthwith out of that inhospitable jurisdiction.