Definition of 'trial'
Word forms: plural trials
1. variable noun
2. variable noun
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.
3. countable noun [usually singular, oft on NOUN]
4. countable noun [usually plural]
If you refer to the trials of a situation, you mean the unpleasant things that you experience in it.
5. countable noun [usually plural]
6.
See trial and error
7.
See on trial
8.
See on trial
9.
See to stand trial
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
trial in British English 1
noun
2. law
a.
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
b.
c.
(as modifier)
trial proceedings
7.
9. See on trial
verbWord forms: trials, trialling, trialled
10. (transitive)
to test or make experimental use of (something)
the idea has been trialled in several schools
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
trialling (ˈtrialling) noun
Word origin
C16: from Anglo-French, from trier to tryWord Frequency
trial in British English 2
noun grammar
1.
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C19: from tri- + -al1Word Frequency
trial in American English
noun
1.
b.
c.
experimental treatment or operation; experiment
2.
a.
the fact or state of being tried by suffering, temptation, etc.
c.
a person or thing that is a source of annoyance or irritation
3.
a formal examination of the facts of a case by a court of law to decide the validity
of a charge or claim
4.
an attempt; endeavor; effort
adjective
5.
of a trial or trials
6.
made, done, or used for the purpose of trying, testing, etc.
SIMILAR WORDS: afˈfliction
Idioms:
SYNONYMY NOTE: trial implies the trying of a person or thing in order to establish worth in actual performance
[hired on trial]; experiment implies a showing by trial whether a thing will be effective [the honor system was instituted as an experiment] and, in addition, is used of any action or process undertaken to discover something
not yet known or to demonstrate something known [experiments in nuclear physics]; test1 implies a putting of a thing to decisive proof by thorough examination or trial under
controlled conditions and with fixed standards in mind [a test of a new jet plane]Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency
trial in American English
(ˈtraiəl, trail)
noun
1. Law
a.
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
b.
the determination of a person's guilt or innocence by due process of law
2.
the act of trying, testing, or putting to the proof
3.
test; proof
4.
an attempt or effort to do something
6.
the state or position of a person or thing being tried or tested; probation
7.
comfort in the hour of trial
8.
an affliction or trouble
9.
a trying, distressing, or annoying thing or person
10. Ceramics
11. See on trial
adjective
SYNONYMS 2, 3, 5. examination. 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. 4. endeavor, essay, struggle. 7. grief, tribulation, distress, sorrow, trouble, hardship. See affliction.13.
done or made by way of trial, proof, or experiment
14.
used in testing, experimenting, etc
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1520–30; try + -al2]Word Frequency
Trial, The in American English
noun
a novel (1925) by Franz Kafka
German: Der ProzessMost material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Examples of 'trial' in a sentence
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In other languages
trial
British English: trial
/ˈtraɪəl/ NOUN
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 he lied at the trial.
- American English: trial /ˈtraɪəl/
- Arabic: مُحَاكَمَة
- Brazilian Portuguese: julgamento
- Chinese: 审理 LAW
- Croatian: suđenje
- Czech: soudní proces
- Danish: retssag
- Dutch: rechtzaak
- European Spanish: juicio
- Finnish: oikeudenkäynti
- French: procès
- German: Gerichtsverfahren
- Greek: δίκη
- Italian: processo giudizio
- Japanese: 裁判
- Korean: 재판
- Norwegian: rettssak
- Polish: proces rozprawa
- European Portuguese: julgamento
- Romanian: proces(jur.)
- Russian: испытание
- Latin American Spanish: juicio
- Swedish: försök
- Thai: การไต่สวน การไต่สวน
- Turkish: duruşma
- Ukrainian: судове засідання
- Vietnamese: phiên tòa
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Definition of trial from the Collins English Dictionary
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