trial (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 , 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 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 ]

  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-laws visits were a great trial for him; life is full of tribulations; a visitation of the plague

    [ Syn: tribulation , visitation ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.