trial

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tri•al

[[t]ˈtraɪ əl, traɪl[/t]] n.

1) law

a) the examination of a cause before a court of law, often involving issues both of law and of fact

b) the use of due process to determine a person's guilt or innocence

2) the act of trying, testing, or putting to the proof

3) an attempt or effort to do something

4) a tentative or experimental action in order to ascertain results; experiment

5) the state or position of a person or thing being tried or tested

6) subjection to suffering or grief; distress

7) an affliction or trouble

8) a troublesome, wearying, or annoying thing or person

9) of, pertaining to, or employed in a trial

10) done or made by way of trial, proof, or experiment

11) used in or for testing, experimenting, sampling, etc

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Etymology: 1520–30; try+ -al II II

tri•al

[[t]ˈtraɪ əl[/t]] adj.

1) gram. of or belonging to a grammatical category of number, as in some Papuan and Austronesian languages, used to indicate that a word denotes three persons or things

2) gram. trial number

3) gram. a word or other form in the trial

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Etymology: 1885–90; tri- + (du) -al