Adjacent Words

Trial definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TRI'AL, n. [from try.] Any effort or exertion of strength for the purpose of ascertaining its effect, or what can be done. A man tries to lift a stone, and on trial finds he is not able. A team attempts to draw a load, and after unsuccessful trial, the attempt is relinquished.
1. Examination by a test; experiment; as in chimistry and metallurgy.
2. Experiment; act of examining by experience. In gardening and agriculture, we learn by trial what land will produce; and often, repeated trials are necessary.
3. Experience; suffering that puts strength, patience of faith to the test; afflictions or temptations that exercise and prove the graces or virtues of men.
Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings. Hebrews 11.
4. In law, the examination of a cause in controversy between parties, before a proper tribunal. Trials are civil or criminal. Trial in civil causes, may be by record or inspection; it may be by witnesses and jury, or by the court. By the laws of England and of the United States, trial by jury, in criminal cases, is held sacred. No criminal can be legally deprived of that privilege.
5. Temptation; test of virtue.
Every station is exposed to some trials.
6. State of being tried.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: 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" [syn: test, trial, run]
2: trying something to find out about it; "a sample for ten days free trial"; "a trial of progesterone failed to relieve the pain" [syn: trial, trial run, test, tryout]
3: the act of undergoing testing; "he survived the great test of battle"; "candidates must compete in a trial of skill" [syn: test, trial]
4: (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"
5: (sports) a preliminary competition to determine qualifications; "the trials for the semifinals began yesterday"
6: 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" [syn: trial, tribulation, visitation]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Anglo-French, from trier to try Date: 15th century 1. a. the action or process of trying or putting to the proof ; test b. a preliminary contest (as in a sport) 2. the formal examination before a competent tribunal of the matter in issue in a civil or criminal cause in order to determine such issue 3. a test of faith, patience, or stamina through subjection to suffering or temptation; broadly a source of vexation or annoyance 4. a. a tryout or experiment to test quality, value, or usefulness — compare clinical trial b. one of a number of repetitions of an experiment 5. attempt II. adjective Date: 1555 1. of, relating to, or used in a trial 2. made or done as a test or experiment 3. used or tried out in a test or experiment

Britannica Concise

In law, a judicial examination of issues of fact or law for the purpose of determining the rights of the parties involved. Attorneys for the plaintiff and the defendant make opening statements to a judge or jury, then the attorney for the plaintiff makes his case by calling witnesses, whom the defense attorney may cross-examine. Unless the case is then dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence, the defense attorney next takes a turn calling witnesses, whom the plaintiff's attorney cross-examines. Both sides make closing arguments. In a trial before a jury, the judge instructs the jury on the applicable laws, and the jury retires to reach a verdict. If the defendant is found guilty, the judge then hands down a sentence.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a judicial examination and determination of issues between parties by a judge with or without a jury (stood trial for murder). 2 a a process or mode of testing qualities. b experimental treatment. c a test (will give you a trial). 3 a trying thing or experience or person, esp. hardship or trouble (the trials of old age). 4 a sports match to test the ability of players eligible for selection to a team. 5 a test of individual ability on a motor cycle over rough ground or on a road. 6 any of various contests involving performance by horses, dogs, or other animals. Phrases and idioms: on trial 1 being tried in a court of law. 2 being tested; to be chosen or retained only if suitable. trial and error repeated (usu. varied and unsystematic) attempts or experiments continued until successful. trial balance (of a ledger in double-entry bookkeeping), a comparison of the totals on either side, the inequality of which reveals errors in posting. trial jury = petty jury. trial run a preliminary test of a vehicle, vessel, machine, etc. Etymology: AF trial, triel f. trier TRY

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trial Tri"al, n. [From Try.] 1. The act of trying or testing in any manner. Specifically: (a) Any effort or exertion of strength for the purpose of ascertaining what can be done or effected. [I] defy thee to the trial of mortal fight. --Milton. (b) The act of testing by experience; proof; test. Repeated trials of the issues and events of actions. --Bp. Wilkins. (c) Examination by a test; experiment, as in chemistry, metallurgy, etc. 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. Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings. --Heb. xi. 36. 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. Every station is exposed to some trials. --Rogers. 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. Syn: Test; attempt; endeavor; effort; experiment; proof; essay. See Test, and Attempt.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(trials) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A trial is a formal meeting in a law court, at which a judge and jury listen to evidence and decide whether a person is guilty of a crime. New evidence showed the police lied at the trial... He's awaiting trial in a military court on charges of plotting against the state... They believed that his case would never come to trial. N-VAR 2. A trial is an experiment in which you test something by using it or doing it for a period of time to see how well it works. If something is on trial, it is being tested in this way. They have been treated with this drug in clinical trials... The robots have been on trial for the past year... N-VAR 3. If someone gives you a trial for a job, or if you are on trial, you do the job for a short period of time to see if you are suitable for it. He had just given a trial to a young woman who said she had previous experience... N-COUNT: usu sing, also on N 4. If you refer to the trials of a situation, you mean the unpleasant things that you experience in it. ...the trials of adolescence. N-COUNT: usu pl, N of n 5. In some sports or outdoor activities, trials are a series of contests that test a competitor's skill and ability. He has been riding in horse trials for less than a year. ...Dovedale Sheepdog Trials. N-COUNT: usu pl, supp N 6. If you do something by trial and error, you try several different methods of doing it until you find the method that works properly. Many drugs were found by trial and error... PHRASE: oft by/through PHR 7. If someone is on trial, they are being tried in a court of law. He is currently on trial accused of serious drugs charges... PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v 8. If you say that someone or something is on trial, you mean that they are in a situation where people are observing them to see whether they succeed or fail. The President will be drawn into a damaging battle in which his credentials will be on trial. PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v 9. If someone stands trial, they are tried in court for a crime they are accused of. PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR for n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

tri'-al.

See COURTS, JUDICIAL; SANHEDRIN.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Testing, examination, experiment. 2. Experience, experimental knowledge. 3. Attempt, endeavor, effort, essay, exertion, struggle, aim. 4. Temptation, test of virtue. 5. Test, criterion, proof, touchstone, ordeal, assay. 6. Suffering, trouble, affliction, grief, sorrow, distress, tribulation, misery, woe, burden, pain, dolor, mortification, chagrin, heartache, unhappiness, wretchedness, vexation, hardship. 7. Suit, case, cause, action.

Moby Thesaurus

Olympic games, Olympics, R and D, acid test, adverse circumstances, adversity, affliction, aggravation, agony, anguish, annoyance, approach, arrangement, assay, assize, attempt, audition, bad luck, bad news, bane, basic training, bedevilment, bid, blank determination, blight, blue book, bore, bother, botheration, bothersomeness, bout, briefing, brouillon, bummer, calvary, care, change of venue, check, checking, clearing the decks, complication, concours, conditional, contest, control, control experiment, controlled experiment, court-martial, crack, crashing bore, criterion, cross, cross-examination, crown of thorns, crucial test, crucible, curse, cut and try, cut-and-try, deltoid, derby, determination, determined, devilment, difficulties, difficulty, distress, docimasy, dogging, downer, drag, dry run, dual, effort, empirical, empiricism, encounter, endeavor, engagement, enquiry, equipment, essay, exam, examen, examination, exasperation, experiment, experimental, experimental design, experimental method, experimental proof, experimentalism, experimentation, exploratory, familiarization, fan-shaped, feeling out, fiery ordeal, fight, final, final examination, first draft, fixing, fling, foundation, gambit, game, games, go, great go, grief, groundwork, gymkhana, harassment, hard knocks, hard life, hard lot, hard luck, hard times, hardcase, hardship, harrying, hassle, headache, hearing, heartbreak, heuristic, hit and miss, hit-or-miss, honors, hounding, inquest, inquiry, inquisition, irritant, irritation, joust, jury trial, kiteflying, lawsuit, lick, litigation, makeready, making ready, manufacture, match, matching, meet, meeting, midsemester, midterm, misery, misfortune, mistrial, mobilization, molestation, move, noble experiment, nuisance, number, offer, oral, oral examination, ordeal, persecution, pest, pilot, plague, planning, plight, plural, pragmatism, prearrangement, predicament, prelim, preliminaries, preliminary, preliminary act, preliminary step, prep, preparation, preparatory study, preparing, prepping, prerequisite, pressure, pretreatment, probation, probationary, probative, probatory, problem, processing, proof, propaedeutic, proving, provision, provisional, quiz, rally, readying, rencontre, research and development, resolute, rigor, rough draft, rough sketch, rule of thumb, sample, sea of troubles, shot, singular, sorrow, sounding out, spadework, stab, standard, step, stress, stress of life, stroke, strong bid, suffering, take-home examination, tentative, tentative method, tentativeness, test, test case, testing, three, three-in-one, tilt, touchstone, tournament, tourney, training, treatment, triadic, trial and error, trial by jury, trial run, trial-and-error, trials and tribulations, triangular, tribulation, trinal, trine, triple, triplex, tripos, triune, trouble, troubles, try, trying, tryout, undertaking, vale of tears, venture, venturesome, verification, verificatory, vexation, vexatiousness, vicissitude, visitation, viva, warm-up, whack, whirl, willing, woe, worriment, worry, written, written examination