- trial
- [[t]tra͟ɪ͟əl[/t]]
♦♦trials1) N-VAR 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 the police lied at the trial...
He's awaiting trial in a military court on charges of plotting against the state...
They believed that his case would never come to trial.
2) N-VAR 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.They have been treated with this drug in clinical trials...
I took the car out for a trial on the roads...
The robots have been on trial for the past year...
We plan to release a prototype this autumn for trial in hospitals.
3) N-COUNT: usu sing, also on N If someone gives you a trial for a job, or if you are on trial, you do the job for a short period of time to see if you are suitable for it.He had just given a trial to a young woman who said she had previous experience...
The 26-year old fullback has been on trial at the club for ten days.
4) N-COUNT: usu pl, N of n If you refer to the trials of a situation, you mean the unpleasant things that you experience in it....the trials of adolescence.
5) N-COUNT: usu pl, supp N In some sports or outdoor activities, trials are a series of contests that test a competitor's skill and ability.He has been riding in horse trials for less than a year.
...Dovedale Sheepdog Trials.
6) PHRASE: oft by/through PHR If you do something by trial and error, you try several different methods of doing it until you find the method that works properly.Many drugs were found by trial and error...
She feels that raising her children has been a matter of trial and error.
7) PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v If someone is on trial, they are being tried in a court of law.He is currently on trial accused of serious drugs charges...
He will go on trial later this month charged with murder...
Two skinheads were put on trial for those murders last week.
8) PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v If you say that someone or something is on trial, you mean that they are in a situation where people are observing them to see whether they succeed or fail.The President will be drawn into a damaging battle in which his credentials will be on trial.
9) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR for n If someone stands trial, they are tried in court for a crime they are accused of.He was found to be mentally unfit to stand trial...
Five people are to stand trial for murder.
English dictionary. 2008.
