ordeal

Also found in: Thesaurus, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

or·deal

(ôr-dēl′)

1. A difficult or painful experience, especially one that severely tests character or endurance. See Synonyms at trial.

2. A method of trial in which the accused was subjected to pain or danger as a means of invoking God's intercession, with the outcome regarded as revealing a divine determination of guilt or innocence.

[Alteration (influenced by deal) of Middle English ordal, trial by ordeal, from Old English ordāl; see dail- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ordeal

(ɔːˈdiːl)

1. a severe or trying experience

2. (Historical Terms) history a method of trial in which the guilt or innocence of an accused person was determined by subjecting him or her to physical danger, esp by fire or water. The outcome was regarded as an indication of divine judgment

[Old English ordāl, ordēl; related to Old Frisian ordēl, Old High German urteili (German Urteil) verdict. See deal¹, dole¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

or•deal

(ɔrˈdil, -ˈdi əl, ˈɔr dil)

n.

1. any extremely severe or trying test, experience, or trial.

2. a former method of trial used to determine guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to serious physical danger, the result being regarded as a divine judgment.

[before 950; Middle English ordal, Old English ordāl; c. Old Frisian ordēl, Old Saxon urdēli, Old High German urteili]

ordeal

- From Old English ordel, "judgment," figuratively, an experience testing endurance, patience, courage, etc.—also a test of guilt or innocence that was one of severe pain or torture.

ordeal

noun hardship, trial, difficulty, test, labour, suffering, trouble(s), nightmare, burden, torture, misery, agony, torment, anguish, toil, affliction, tribulation(s), baptism of fire the painful ordeal of identifying the body
delight, pleasure, joy, happiness, enjoyment, bliss, elation, gladness

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

ordeal

noun

A state of pain or anguish that tests one's resiliency and character:

crucible, trial, tribulation, visitation.

Translations

مِحْنَه، إمْتِحان صَعْبمُصِيبَة

utrpení

prøvelse

Gottesurteil Qual schwere Prüfung Tortur

δοκιμασία

calvario experiencia dura suplicio

koettelemus

calvaire épreuve ordalie désolation affliction

kušnja

òrekraun

prova prova ardua

苦しい体験

시련

smags pārdzīvojums

испытание мука суровое испытание

tvrdá skúška

težka preizkušnja

prövning

ประสบการณ์ที่ทารุณ

büyük çileçetin sınav

sự thử thách

严酷的考验折磨煎熬磨难

ordeal

[ɔːˈdiːl] N

1. (= bad experience) → terrible experiencia f
it was a terrible ordeal → fue una experiencia terrible
after such an ordeal → después de tan terrible experiencia
exams are an ordeal for me → para mí los exámenes son un suplicio

2. (Hist) → ordalías fpl
ordeal by fire → ordalías fpl del fuego

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ordeal

[ɔː^rˈdiːl] n → épreuve f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ordeal

→ Tortur f; (stronger, long-lasting) → Martyrium nt; (= torment, emotional ordeal) → Qual f

(Hist: = trial) → Gottesurteil nt; ordeal by fire/water → Feuer-/Wasserprobe f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ordeal

[ɔːˈdiːl] n → esperienza traumatica

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

ordeal

(oːˈdiːl) noun

a difficult, painful experience. Being kidnapped was an ordeal for the child.

ordeal

→ مُصِيبَة utrpení prøvelse Qual δοκιμασία suplicio koettelemus épreuve kušnja prova ardua 苦しい体験 시련 beproeving prøvelse ciężka próba provação суровое испытание prövning ประสบการณ์ที่ทารุณ çetin sınav sự thử thách 折磨

References in classic literature ?

But would it not be something of an ordeal? Gossip had filtered to Anne regarding the light in which the Gardners viewed the "infatuation" of son and brother.

View in context

But it is a terrible ordeal for a man to stand upright on his two legs unswaying, and decide that in all the universe he finds for himself but one freedom--namely, the anticipating of the day of his death.

View in context

The position was one of misery for all three; and not one of them would have been equal to enduring this position for a single day, if it had not been for the expectation that it would change, that it was merely a temporary painful ordeal which would pass over.

View in context

As this fearful ordeal we are about to pass through pictures itself to my fancy in all its dread sublimity, I begin to feel my fierce desire to converse with a genuine Emperor cooling down and passing away.

View in context

The girl was a prey to the nervous reaction from the frightful ordeal through which she had so recently passed, and in her overwrought state it seemed that never again should she dare descend to the ground among the fearsome dangers which infested the broad stretch of jungle that she knew must lie between herself and the nearest village of her faithful Waziri.

View in context

Horace shrank from the ordeal as Mercy shrank from it.

View in context

I could only get on at all by taking "nature" into my confidence and my account, by treating my monstrous ordeal as a push in a direction unusual, of course, and unpleasant, but demanding, after all, for a fair front, only another turn of the screw of ordinary human virtue.

View in context

She passed the ordeal of examination successfully, and accepted the wages offered with out a murmur.

View in context

She had carried herself bravely right to the moment of the ordeal, but the sight of the four horses, ranged two and two opposing her, with the thing patent that she was to hold in her hands the hooks on the double-trees and form the link that connected the two spans which were to pull in opposite directions--at the sight of this her courage failed her and she shrank back, drooping and cowering, her face buried in her hands.

View in context

It was a genuine relief to the whole congregation when the ordeal was over and the benediction pronounced.

View in context

Burch in the afternoon because he called upon Rebecca to "lead." She had seen the pallor creep into the girl's face, the hunted look in her eyes, and the trembling of the lashes on her cheeks, and realized the ordeal through which she was passing.

View in context

The idea, however, that his wife was suffering ill-effects from her terrible ordeal, braced him up.

Noun	1.	ordeal - a severe or trying experience experience - an event as apprehended; "a surprising experience"; "that painful experience certainly got our attention"
	2.	ordeal - 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 trial by ordeal trial - (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"; "most of these complaints are settled before they go to trial"