trial
Americannoun
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trials
plural
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Law.
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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.
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the determination of a person's guilt or innocence by due process of law.
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the act of trying, testing, or putting to the proof.
- Synonyms:
- examination
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test; proof.
- Synonyms:
- examination
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an attempt or effort to do something.
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a tentative or experimental action in order to ascertain results; experiment.
- Synonyms:
- examination
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the state or position of a person or thing being tried or tested; probation.
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subjection to suffering or grievous experiences; a distressed or painful state.
comfort in the hour of trial.
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an affliction or trouble.
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a trying, distressing, or annoying thing or person.
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Ceramics. a piece of ceramic material used to try the heat of a kiln and the progress of the firing of its contents.
adjective
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of, relating to, or employed in a trial.
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done or made by way of trial, proof, or experiment.
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used in testing, experimenting, etc.
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acting or serving as a sample, experimental specimen, etc..
a trial offer.
idioms
noun
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the act or an instance of trying or proving; test or experiment
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( as modifier )
a trial run
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law
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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
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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
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( as modifier )
trial proceedings
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an effort or attempt to do something
we had three trials at the climb
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trouble or grief
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an annoying or frustrating person or thing
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(often plural) a competition for individuals
sheepdog trials
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a motorcycling competition in which the skills of the riders are tested over rough ground
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ceramics a piece of sample material used for testing the heat of a kiln and its effects
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undergoing trial, esp before a court of law
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being tested, as before a commitment to purchase
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verb
noun
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a grammatical number occurring in some languages for words in contexts where exactly three of their referents are described or referred to
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(modifier) relating to or inflected for this number
Usage
What does trial mean? In general, a trial is a test or an experiment. Most commonly, the word refers to a criminal trial in a courtroom before a judge and jury. It is also often used in a scientific context to refer to things like clinical trials and drug trials. It can also refer to a hardship. It is commonly used in phrases like trial and error and trial by fire. It is most commonly used as a noun but it can also be used as an adjective and a verb. Example: There are 500 people participating in our research trial for a new heart medication.
Synonym Usage
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. See affliction.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of trial
Explanation
When you run a series of tests on something, it's called a trial. If you invent a computer game and want to run it through a trial before releasing it, you might hire a bunch of teenagers to play it. A trial is also a court hearing to legally determine the result of a particular case. If your cousin is arrested for stealing her neighbor's dog, she may be put on trial. This term can also be used more generically, especially to talk about something being tried in the court of public opinion. The fate of music education is on trial in many school districts facing budget cuts.
Vocabulary lists containing trial
ACT Vocabulary List
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Word Generation Science - Preparing a Scientific Investigation
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Engineering - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The trial of Ms. Chow and other leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance produced some unexpected fireworks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial, an injunction against ongoing and future copyright infringement and unspecified damages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
In Australia, these rules are so strict that discussion with outsiders is forbidden even after a trial wraps up.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said that the antitrust trial would begin March 2, much later than Paramount executives wanted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
During the trial, Baldur von Schirach, the first Reich leader of the Hitler Youth, admitted, among other things, that he miseducated and misled the German youth.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The manuscript, which includes the daughter’s blurry Polaroid snapshots and postcards from their travels, chronicles the pair’s trials, adventures and conversations as they pursue Nanna’s past and their own futures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Hodgson said previous trials suggested the additional fuel use was much smaller than the climate benefit of preventing a warming contrail.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
No specific vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain behind the current surge of Ebola, although clinical trials are underway.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Kirkpatrick was one of seven children left behind, forced to navigate life’s trials and tribulations without his mom and dad.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Albus Dumbledore had his trials too, you know—and Severus Snape, well, you know all about him— ALBUS: They were good men.
From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
