# trial

Pronunciation: say "TRY-uhl" /ˈtɹaɪəl/

## Noun

1. A court proceeding in which evidence is presented to a judge, and sometimes a jury, to decide a legal matter, especially whether an accused person is guilty.
   - Simple: A meeting in a court where a judge or jury hears the facts and decides if someone broke the law.
   - _The defendant's trial began on Monday with opening statements from both sides._
   - _Witnesses gave conflicting accounts during the trial._
2. A test of how well someone or something works or performs, or a period during which this is tested, as in a free trial or a job on trial.
   - Simple: A test to see how well someone or something works, or a time when you try it out.
   - _Engineers conducted a trial of the cooling system under heavy load._
   - _The software passed its final trial without crashing._
3. A research study designed to test the effectiveness and safety of a drug, medical procedure, or similar treatment.
   - Simple: A careful study that tests whether a medicine or treatment is safe and works well.
   - _The drug entered a large trial involving thousands of volunteers._
   - _Researchers halted the trial after observing serious side effects._
4. A difficult or annoying experience, or a person who causes one; in religious contexts, a hardship regarded as a test of faith and piety.
   - Simple: A hard or annoying experience, or a person who is hard to deal with.
   - _The illness was a trial that tested the whole family's patience._
   - _He bore each trial of his life with quiet faith._
5. An event in which athletes' or animals' abilities are tested in competition, often to pick a team or decide who goes on to the next stage.
   - Simple: A contest that tests athletes' or animals' skills, often to choose who joins a team or moves up.
   - _He earned his place on the squad after a grueling trial._
   - _The national trials will decide who represents the country._

## Adjective

6. Done on a provisional or experimental basis, as a test before full adoption.
   - Simple: Done as a test, to see if something will work before doing it fully.
   - _The new policy began as a trial measure before becoming permanent._
   - _Staff worked a trial schedule for several weeks to test demand._
7. Used before another noun to mean belonging to or used in a trial or test, as in a trial lawyer, trial evidence, or trial results.
   - Simple: Having to do with a trial or test.
   - _The committee examined the trial findings in detail._
   - _Each trial report was filed for later review._

## Verb

9. To test a new product, method, or person, such as a prospective player, by trying them out before full adoption or selection.
   - Simple: To try out something or someone new to see how well they work before deciding.
   - _The company decided to trial the app with a small group of users first._
   - _Engineers trialed several designs before choosing the final one._

## Noun

8. The act of attempting something, especially repeatedly, as preserved in the phrase "trial and error." *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The act of trying to do something, often more than once.
   - _With no manual to guide them, the team worked out the right settings through weeks of trial and error._
   - _Their success was the product of years of trial and error._
10. An encounter in which armies or individual fighters engage in combat. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A fight or battle between people or armies to test their strength.

## Other meanings

- (noun) An internal examination set by Eton College to assess a pupil's progress.
- (noun) A piece of ware used to test the temperature inside a kiln during firing.
- (adjective) Consisting of three parts or things, usually alike; threefold.
- (adjective) Pertaining to a grammatical form that refers to three of something, such as three people.
- (noun) The grammatical number used for referring to exactly three of something.

## Origin

Anglo-Norman trier ('to pick out, cull') with the suffix '-al' gave trial or triel, which became Middle English trial or triall; English try is related.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/trial (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).