Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "trial" []

  • Law Examination of evidence and applicable law by a competent tribunal to determine the issue of specified charges or claims. (noun)
  • The act or process of testing, trying, or putting to the proof: a trial of one's faith. (noun)
  • An instance of such testing, especially as part of a series of tests or experiments: a clinical trial of a drug. (noun)
  • An effort or attempt: succeeded on the third trial. (noun)
  • A state of pain or anguish that tests patience, endurance, or belief: "the fiery trial through which we pass” ( Abraham Lincoln). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "trial" in a sentence
  • "VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Guantanamo trial may proceed without defendant | Reuters'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'Ali Hamza al Bahlul\'s refusal to participate in his \'trial\' leaves the Guantanamo tribunal in the unenviable position of showing judicial fairness within 90 days."
  • "Lord Mansfield makes the same observation with regard to another corrective of the short mode of trial, -- that of a _new trial_."
  • "I agree that the point about testifying in trial is extremely invalid."