trial
trial [trīʹəl, trīl] noun
1. Law. Examination of evidence and applicable law by a competent tribunal to determine the issue of specified charges or claims.
2. a. The act or process of testing, trying, or putting to the proof: a trial of one's faith. b. An instance of such testing, especially as part of a series of tests or experiments.
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.
adjective
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.
idiom.
on trial
In the process of being tried, as in a court of law.
trial by fire
A test of one's abilities, especially the ability to perform well under pressure.
[Middle English triall, a testing, from Anglo-Norman trial, from trier, to sort, try.]
Synonyms: trial, affliction, crucible, ordeal, tribulation, visitation. The central meaning shared by these nouns is "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; domestic tribulations; an epidemic considered to be a visitation. See also synonyms at burden1.