trial by ordeal

1. 1.

   a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence

   Synonymsordeal

   Broadertrial

Questions about trial by ordeal

What does trial by ordeal mean?

trial by ordeal means "a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence".

What is another word for trial by ordeal?

Close synonyms include ordeal. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is trial by ordeal a common word?

trial by ordeal is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.