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definitions

trial

[trahy-uhl, trahyl]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR trial ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

adjective

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RELATED WORDS

preliminary, exploratory, experiment, testing, investigation, examination, struggle, probation, effort, case, litigation, tribunal, suit, prosecution, hearing, contest, arraignment, action, indictment, lawsuit

Nearby words

  1. triacylglycerol lipase,
  2. triad,
  3. triad syndrome,
  4. triadelphous,
  5. triage,
  6. trial and error,
  7. trial balance,
  8. trial balloon,
  9. trial by battle,
  10. trial by fire

Idioms

    on trial,
    1. undergoing examination before a judicial tribunal.
    2. undergoing a probationary or trial period.

Origin of trial

First recorded in 1520–30; try + -al2
Related forms
Can be confusedtrail trial

Synonym study

2, 3, 5. 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. 7. See affliction.

Trial, The

noun

(German Der Prozess), a novel (1925) by Franz Kafka.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for trial

British Dictionary definitions for trial

trial

1

noun

  1. the act or an instance of trying or proving; test or experiment
  2. (as modifier)a trial run
law
  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. (as modifier)trial proceedings
an effort or attempt to do somethingwe had three trials at the climb
trouble or grief
an annoying or frustrating person or thing
(often plural) a competition for individualssheepdog 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
  1. undergoing trial, esp before a court of law
  2. being tested, as before a commitment to purchase

verb trials, trialling or trialled

(tr) to test or make experimental use of (something)the idea has been trialled in several schools
Derived Formstrialling, noun

Word Origin for trial

C16: from Anglo-French, from trier to try

noun grammar

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

Word Origin for trial

C19: from tri- + -al 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for trial

trial

n.

mid-15c., "act or process of testing," from Anglo-French trial, noun formed from triet "to try" (see try). Sense of "examining and deciding a case in a court of law" is first recorded 1570s; extended to any ordeal by 1590s. As an adjectival phrase, trial-and-error is recorded from 1806. Trial balloon (1939) is congnate of French ballon d'essai.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with trial

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.