3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trial  \Tri"al\,  n.  [From  {Try}.] 
  1.  The  act  of  trying  or  testing  in  any  manner.  Specifically: 
 
  a  Any  effort  or  exertion  of  strength  for  the  purpose  of 
  ascertaining  what  can  be  done  or  effected. 
 
  [I]  defy  thee  to  the  trial  of  mortal  fight. 
  --Milton. 
  b  The  act  of  testing  by  experience;  proof;  test. 
 
  Repeated  trials  of  the  issues  and  events  of 
  actions.  --Bp.  Wilkins. 
  c  Examination  by  a  test;  experiment,  as  in  chemistry, 
  metallurgy,  etc 
 
  2.  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. 
 
  Others  had  trial  of  cruel  mockings  and  scourgings. 
  --Heb.  xi  36. 
 
  3.  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. 
 
  Every  station  is  exposed  to  some  trials.  --Rogers. 
 
  4.  (Law)  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. 
 
  Syn:  Test;  attempt;  endeavor;  effort;  experiment;  proof; 
  essay.  See  {Test},  and  {Attempt}. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  trial 
  adj  :  of  the  nature  of  or  undergoing  an  experiment;  "an 
  experimental  drug";  "a  pilot  project";  "a  test  run";  "a 
  trial  separation"  [syn:  {experimental},  {model(a)},  {pilot(a)}, 
  {test(a)},  {trial(a)}] 
  n  1:  (law)  legal  proceedings  consisting  of  the  judicial 
  examination  of  issues  by  a  competent  tribunal;  "most  of 
  these  complaints  are  settled  before  they  go  to  trial" 
  2:  the  act  of  testing  something  "in  the  experimental  trials 
  the  amount  of  carbon  was  measured  separately";  "he  called 
  each  flip  of  the  coin  a  new  trial"  [syn:  {test},  {run}] 
  3:  (sports)  a  preliminary  competition  to  determine 
  qualifications;  "the  trials  for  the  semifinals  began 
  yesterday" 
  4:  (law)  the  determination  of  a  person's  innocence  or  guilt  by 
  due  process  of  law;  "he  had  a  fair  trial  and  the  jury 
  found  him  guilty" 
  5:  trying  something  to  find  out  about  it  "a  sample  for  ten 
  days  free  trial";  "a  trial  of  progesterone  failed  to 
  relieve  the  pain"  [syn:  {test},  {tryout}] 
  6:  an  annoying  or  frustrating  event;  "his  mother-in-law's 
  visits  were  a  great  trial  for  him";  "life  is  full  of 
  tribulations";  "a  visitation  of  the  plague"  [syn:  {tribulation}, 
  {visitation}] 
  7:  the  act  of  undergoing  testing;  "he  survived  the  great  test 
  of  battle";  "candidates  must  compete  in  a  trial  of  skill" 
  [syn:  {test}] 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  TRIAL,  n.  A  formal  inquiry  designed  to  prove  and  put  upon  record  the 
  blameless  characters  of  judges,  advocates  and  jurors.  In  order  to 
  effect  this  purpose  it  is  necessary  to  supply  a  contrast  in  the  person 
  of  one  who  is  called  the  defendant,  the  prisoner,  or  the  accused.  If 
  the  contrast  is  made  sufficiently  clear  this  person  is  made  to  undergo 
  such  an  affliction  as  will  give  the  virtuous  gentlemen  a  comfortable 
  sense  of  their  immunity,  added  to  that  of  their  worth.  In  our  day  the 
  accused  is  usually  a  human  being  or  a  socialist,  but  in  mediaeval 
  times,  animals,  fishes,  reptiles  and  insects  were  brought  to  trial.  A 
  beast  that  had  taken  human  life,  or  practiced  sorcery,  was  duly 
  arrested,  tried  and  if  condemned,  put  to  death  by  the  public 
  executioner.  Insects  ravaging  grain  fields,  orchards  or  vineyards 
  were  cited  to  appeal  by  counsel  before  a  civil  tribunal,  and  after 
  testimony,  argument  and  condemnation,  if  they  continued  _in 
  contumaciam_  the  matter  was  taken  to  a  high  ecclesiastical  court, 
  where  they  were  solemnly  excommunicated  and  anathematized.  In  a 
  street  of  Toledo,  some  pigs  that  had  wickedly  run  between  the 
  viceroy's  legs,  upsetting  him  were  arrested  on  a  warrant,  tried  and 
  punished.  In  Naples  and  ass  was  condemned  to  be  burned  at  the  stake, 
  but  the  sentence  appears  not  to  have  been  executed.  D'Addosio  relates 
  from  the  court  records  many  trials  of  pigs,  bulls,  horses,  cocks, 
  dogs,  goats,  etc.,  greatly,  it  is  believed,  to  the  betterment  of  their 
  conduct  and  morals.  In  1451  a  suit  was  brought  against  the  leeches 
  infesting  some  ponds  about  Berne,  and  the  Bishop  of  Lausanne 
  instructed  by  the  faculty  of  Heidelberg  University,  directed  that  some 
  of  "the  aquatic  worms"  be  brought  before  the  local  magistracy.  This 
  was  done  and  the  leeches,  both  present  and  absent,  were  ordered  to 
  leave  the  places  that  they  had  infested  within  three  days  on  pain  of 
  incurring  "the  malediction  of  God."  In  the  voluminous  records  of  this 
  _cause  celebre_  nothing  is  found  to  show  whether  the  offenders  braved 
  the  punishment,  or  departed  forthwith  out  of  that  inhospitable 
  jurisdiction. 
 
 

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