Skip to definition.
Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows.
NEW iPhone Audio English dictionary


Noun: ordeal  or'deel
  1. A severe or trying experience
     
  2. 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

Derived forms: ordeals

Type of: experience, trial

Encyclopedia: Ordeal

Nearest

orchotomy
Orcinus
Orcinus orca
Orcus
Orczy
Ord kangaroo rat
ordain
ordained
ordainer
ordainment
ordeal
ordeal bean
ordeal tree
order
Order
order Acarina
order Accipitriformes
order Actinaria
order Actiniaria
order Actinomycetales
order Actinomyxidia