trial: Meaning and Definition of
tri•al
Pronunciation: (trī'ul, trīl), [key] — n.
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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.
- the determination of a person's guilt or innocence by due process of law.
- the act of trying, testing, or putting to the proof.
- test; proof.
- an attempt or effort to do something.
- a tentative or experimental action in order to ascertain results; experiment.
- the state or position of a person or thing being tried or tested; probation.
- subjection to suffering or grievous experiences; a distressed or painful state: comfort in the hour of trial.
- an affliction or trouble.
- a trying, distressing, or annoying thing or person.
- a piece of ceramic material used to try the heat of a kiln and the progress of the firing of its contents.
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- undergoing examination before a judicial tribunal.
- undergoing a probationary or trial period.
—adj. - of, pertaining to, or employed in a trial.
- done or made by way of trial, proof, or experiment.
- used in testing, experimenting, etc.
- acting or serving as a sample, experimental specimen, etc.: a trial offer.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.