Definition of trial

• n. - The act of trying or testing in any manner.
• n. - Any effort or exertion of strength for the purpose of ascertaining what can be done or effected.
• n. - The act of testing by experience; proof; test.
• n. - Examination by a test; experiment, as in chemistry, metallurgy, etc.
• n. - The state of being tried or tempted; exposure to suffering that tests strength, patience, faith, or the like; affliction or temptation that exercises and proves the graces or virtues of men.
• n. - That which tries or afflicts; that which harasses; that which tries the character or principles; that which tempts to evil; as, his child's conduct was a sore trial.
• n. - The formal examination of the matter in issue in a cause before a competent tribunal; the mode of determining a question of fact in a court of law; the examination, in legal form, of the facts in issue in a cause pending before a competent tribunal, for the purpose of determining such issue.