trial

tri|al¹ W2S3 [ˈtraıəl] n

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

1¦(court)¦

2¦(test)¦

3¦(try somebody/something)¦

4 by/through trial and error

5¦(difficulty)¦

6¦(sports)¦

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

[Date: 1400-1500; : Anglo-French; Origin: trier; TRY¹]

1.) ¦(COURT)¦ [U and C]

a legal process in which a judge and often a ↑jury in a court of law examine information to decide whether someone is guilty of a crime

→↑try

▪ a murder trial

on trial (for sth)

(=being judged in a court of law for)

▪ Brady was on trial for assault.

▪ The men are due to stand trial (=be judged in a court of law) on a drugs charge.

▪ The defendant has a right to a fair trial .

go/come to trial

(=begin being judged in a court of law)

▪ By the time the case comes to trial, he will have spent a year in prison.

bring sb to trial

▪ Thirty police officers were brought to trial.

▪ Murphy sat in a prison cell awaiting trial (=waiting for his trial to begin) .

→↑show trial

2.) ¦(TEST)¦ [U and C]

a process of testing to find out whether something works effectively and is safe

▪ a new drug that is undergoing clinical trials

3.) ¦(TRY SOMEBODY/SOMETHING)¦ [U and C]

a short period during which you use or do something or employ someone to find out whether they are satisfactory for a particular purpose or job

→↑try on trial

▪ They let me have the computer on trial for thirty days.

▪ The security system will be reviewed after a three-month trial period .

▪ Smith was hired on a six-month trial basis .

trial separation

(=a period of time in which a husband and wife do not live together, to find out whether they want to stay married)

4.) by/through trial and error

if you do something by trial and error, you test many different methods of doing something in order to find the best

▪ I learned most of what I know about gardening through trial and error.

5.) ¦(DIFFICULTY)¦ [C usually plural]

something that is difficult to deal with, and that is worrying or annoying

→↑trying

▪ the daily trials of living in a poor country

be a trial (to/for sb)

▪ My brothers and I were always a real trial to my parents.

▪ the trials and tribulations of running a business

6.) ¦(SPORTS)¦

trials [plural] BrE

a special sports competition in which people who want to be on a team are tested, so that the best can be chosen

American Equivalent: tryouthorse/sheepdog trials

(=a sporting competition in which horses or dogs compete)

trial ²

trial² past tense and past participle trialled present participle trialling

v [T] BrE

to thoroughly test something to see if it works correctly or is effective

▪ These techniques were trialled by teachers in 300 schools.