| 释义 |
▪ I. trial, n.1|ˈtraɪəl|
Also 6 Sc. triel, 6–7 Sc. tryel(l, 6–7 tri-, tryall, 7–8 (9 dial.) tryal.
[= AF. trial, triel, f. trier to try, instanced in 16th c., but prob. earlier: see -al1. Cf. Du Cange s.v. triallum.]
The action or fact of trying or being tried, in various senses of try v.
(The senses are here arranged not according to the chronological order of the quotations cited, but in accordance with the sense-development seen in try v. and triable.)
1. Law. The examination and determination of a cause by a judicial tribunal; determination of the guilt or innocence of an accused person by a court.
Hence to bring (a person or cause) to trial; to put (a person) on his trial, to stand (one's) trial, etc.; also trial by the country, trial by jury, trial by proviso, etc.: see these words.
a1577Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. (1633) 189 The clarke asketh him how he will be tried and telleth him he must say, by God and the countrie, for these be the words formall of his triall after inditement. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 146 In the ordinary trialls of Right, Twelve men of the common People, are the Judges. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull App. iii, So Jack resolved; but he had done more wisely to have put himself upon the trial of his country. 1838Thirlwall Greece IV. 73 He was brought to trial..Theramenes, lately his intimate friend, became his accuser. 1885Manch. Exam. 10 July 5/1 In this case the parties were first put upon their trial. 1911Act 1 & 2 Geo. V, c. 6 §9 (1) Any sheriff or his lawful deputy before whom a writ of inquiry or a writ of trial is executed.
b. The determination of a person's guilt or innocence, or the righteousness of his cause, by a combat between the accuser and accused (trial by battle, trial by (single) combat, trial by wager of battle, trial by the sword); ‘a combat decisive of the merits of a cause’ (Schmidt); see also trial by ordeal. These methods of trial are now abolished; but expressions originally referring to them are still in fig. use. Thus, war is often spoken of as a ‘trial by battle’ with God for judge.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. i. 81 Ile answer thee in any faire degree, Or Chiualrous designe of knightly triall. 1595― John ii. i. 286 Those soules That to their euerlasting residence, Before the dew of euening fall, shall fleete In dread⁓full triall of our kingdomes King. Ibid. 342 England thou hast not sau'd one drop of blood In this hot triall more then we of France. 1600― A.Y.L. i. ii. 199 Let your faire eies, and gentle wishes go with mee to my triall. 1617[see combat n. 1]. 1641[see battle n. 2]. 1738Glover Leonidas iii. 564 By single combat were the tryal vain. 1819Act 59 Geo. III, c. 46 Whereas..the Trial by Battel in any Suit, is a Mode of Trial unfit to be used; and it is expedient that the same should be wholly abolished..be it..enacted, That..in any Writ of Right now depending, or which may here⁓after be..commenced, the Tenant shall not be received to wage Battel, nor shall Issue be joined nor Trial be had by Battel. 1868G. Pryme Autobiog. Recoll. vii. (1870) an. 1818. 133.
(b) trial by television or the media, subjection of a public figure under some cloud to discussion of his case on television or in the media, usu. in such a way as to imply his guilt.
1960J. Freeman in New Statesman 15 Oct. 556/1 A group of Labour MPs had..written to The Times complaining that my questions to Mr. Foulkes, in the BBC programme Panorama, about specific..allegations of malpractice in his union amounted to public trial by television. 1968Punch 6 Mar. 327/1 Urged to stop ‘trial by television’, the Postmaster-General..said..he himself had no power over the content of programmes. 1979Broadcast 4 June 10/1 There have been predictable references to ‘trial by the media’, ‘trial by television’.
2. a. The action of testing or putting to the proof the fitness, truth, strength, or other quality of anything; test, probation. Applied spec. in pl. to a boat's trial run (see sense 13 a below).
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 108 The tryall of our fayth, & examinacyon or proue of our hope. 1548Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. Mark viii. 53 b, Nowe maketh he a triall howe much his disciples haue profited ghostly. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ix. 339 The most certaine triall of these horses is when they can ouertake the beast called Lant or the Ostrich in a race. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. vi. 221 The triall of mettall by fire. 1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth i. (1723) 23 They answer all Chymical Tryals in like Manner as the Sea-Shells do. 1903Motor. Ann. 145 The Automobile Club..held a series of practical and official brake trials in Welbeck Park. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 25 Mar. 17/2 On Friday the Traveller was taken out for her trials... Slight trouble arose in the main bearings and the vessel returned to the dock for adjustments. 1969F. Mowat Boat who would not Float (1970) vii. 70 Seamen refer to the first tentative voyage of a newly commissioned ship as her trials.
b. The fact or condition of being tried by suffering or temptation; probation. † In quot. c 1550, temptation (obs.). (Cf. 9.)
c1550Cheke Matt. xxvi. 41 Can ie not watch oon hour with me, watch and prai yt ie enter not into trial. 1644Milton Areop. (Arb.) 45 That which purifies us is triall. 1755Young Centaur i. Wks. 1757 IV. 108 Is not this stretching out our boldness even beyond the day of tryal? 1871Macduff Mem. Patmos vi. 71 The hour of trial—the testing hour of suffering arrived.
c. A contest designed to test the capabilities of motor-cyclists or (formerly) car-drivers and their vehicles, in which riding or driving takes place over long distances or rough terrain. Freq. in pl. Cf. reliability trial s.v. reliability 3.
1926[see scramble n. 2 b]. 1935Encycl. Sports 429/1 Among the more famous English trials that have been run for many years are the London–Edinburgh run, the London–Exeter run, the London–Land's End Trial and the London–Gloucester Run. 1950Oxf. Jun. Encycl. IX. 328/2 The famous Scott Trial in Yorkshire was the first of such rough-riding fixtures [in motor-cycling contests]. 1963P. Drackett Motor Rallying i. 10 The Thousand Miles Trial of 1903 went several steps nearer to the rally as we know it to-day, with road sections and timed hill-climbs. 1976Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 3 Nov., Trials enthusiasts will be out in force in Hampshire this weekend to watch the Hood Trophies and Perce Simon Trials—two major events in the British motor cycle calendar.
†3. Inquiry or investigation in order to ascertain something; examination, elucidation. to take (get) trial, to make inquiry. Sc. Obs.
1557–72Diurnal Occur. (Bann. Cl.) 72 Ane conventioun ordanit to convene in Sanctandrois for taking tryell of the matter aboue writtin. 1575in Maitl. Cl. Misc. I. 126 To be diligent for gaitting of tryall of the deid barne that wes cassin furth in Foresteris wynd. a1657Sir W. Mure Ps. cxxxix. 3 My pathes, my lying doun thou eyest, And narrow tryall takes.
4. a. Action, method, or treatment adopted in order to ascertain the result; investigation by means of experience; experiment. rule of trial and error: see position 3. trial and error, (a) also in non-mathematical contexts, the process of succeeding by repeated trying with or without improvement of method by learning from failures; (b) spec. in Psychol., with reference to the theory that a primitive form of learning results, over a series of trials, from erroneous random responses to a problem being replaced by the correct response, rather than from insight. Freq. (with hyphens) attrib.
1570Levins Manip. 13/14 A Tryall, experimentum. 1608Bacon Comment. Sol. Wks. 1868 IV. 63 A collection of phainomena, of surgery, destillations, minerall tryalls. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 106/1 In what season it is best to make these tryals has not been..declared. 1806Hutton Course Math. I. 256 They may be all readily solved by the following easy rule of Double Position, sometimes called Trial-and-Error. 1812Woodhouse Astron. xxxix. 387 Astronomers have sought, by the indirect methods of trial and conjecture, to avoid them. 1894C. L. Morgan Introd. Compar. Psychol. xiv. 241 Such a proceeding can be completely explained in terms of sense-experience. The process was throughout one of trial and error. 1898E. L. Thorndike in Psychol. Rev. Monogr. Suppl. II. viii. 105 If the method of trial and error, with accidental success, be the method of acquiring associations among the animals, the slow progress of primitive man..becomes suggestive. 1900C. L. Morgan Animal Behaviour iv. 139 The method of varied trial and error with the utilization of chance success, is a lengthy and somewhat clumsy process; but it suffices. 1907Verney Mem. I. 536 He will have some alders set in the wet places..for a trial. 1940Hilgard & Marquis Conditioning & Learning x. 252/2 The behavior of animals in the trial and error situation yields evidence of more intelligent behavior than is implied in the simple process of stamping in correct responses and stamping out wrong ones. 1951Parsons & Shils Toward Gen. Theory of Action ii. ii. 129 Invention may be..trial-and-error learning. 1957J. S. Huxley Relig. without Revelation ix. 230 Scientific hypotheses..are better organisations for coping with our experience of physical phenomena than are trial-and-error methods. 1962Listener 15 Nov. 796/1 There had been fitful, trial-and-error attempts to create a National Assembly. 1967M. Dobb Capitalism, Devel. & Planning v. 242 In the Lange trial-and-error process..it was variable prices (accounting prices) that were fixed by the top-level authorities. 1972New Yorker 26 Aug. 32/1 The American psychologist Edward L. Thorndike..is credited with the first rigorous investigation of trial-and-error, or instrumental, learning.
†b. The result ascertained by testing; effect; efficacy. (Cf. proof n. 7.) Obs. rare.
1559Morwyng Evonym. 30 They giue it to drinke against the fittes of the falling sycknes with maruellous tryall.
†5. transf. Evidence, proof. Obs.
1532Frith Let. Wks. (1573) 81/1 Whan can be more triall of a faythfull hart, then to aduenture not onely to ayde and succour by the meanes of other,..but also personally to visite the poore oppressed? 1577Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 153, I will not saie..if I should, I could easilie bring my triall. a1586Satir. Poems Reform. xxxvi. 86 Thow..gave gud tryell of thy lytill treuth. a1670Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1851) II. 33 Thir newis turned to nothing, for there wes no tryel found that sic materis were trew.
6. a. A testing of qualifications, attainments, or progress; examination.
spec. the examination prescribed by Presbyteries for the licensing of preachers or the ordination of ministers; also, in Scotland, the public probation of a Lord of Session; (pl.) at Eton College, Harrow, and other schools, the terminal examination; at Oxford and Cambridge, short for trial eights (see 13).
1672Mem. J. Fraser in Sel. Biog. (Wodrow Soc.) II. 309 After trial of my gifts and conversation by several exercises and pieces of trial..they agreed to trust me in the name of Christ with the dispensation of the Gospel. 1706Act 6 Anne c. ii. Art. xix, No writer to the signet [shall] be capable to be admitted a lord of the session unless he undergo a private and publick tryal on the civil law. 1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. (1710) 425 The Manner of Admission into this Society [sc. the Faculty of Advocates] is..sometimes, tho' rarely, by a Trial in the Scots Law. 1710T. Halyburton Mem. ii. (1824) 238, I underwent the other parts of my private trials and on May 1, 1700 was ordained at Ceres. 1815Scott Guy M. xix, He went to stand trial for his license as a preacher. 1847in Hare Story my Life (1896) I. 223 We are busy at our Trial, which we do with our masters in form. 1849Harper E. Erskine i. 11 Mr. Erskine was after the usual trials licensed by the Presbytery of Kirkcaldy. 1905H. A. Vachell The Hill ix, If we put our backs—and heads—into Trials, we can easily get a remove. 1908G. D. Law in Boston Acc. Life 84 note, The trials of a probationer about to be ordained were similar to those of a divinity student applying for licence. 1908Westm. Gaz. 7 Oct. 12/1 The ceremony..which every Scottish judge has to ‘pass’, is called his ‘trials’.
b. Sport. A match held to select players for a major team; esp. in Rugby Football. Cf. trial match, sense 13.
a1914J. E. Raphael Mod. Rugby Football (1918) 249 E. W. Baker played for the South and in other important trials. 1921E. H. D. Sewell Rugby Football 337 He was nominated to play on the wing in the third Trial. 1950[see signing vbl. n. 1 b]. 1978Rugby World Apr. 5/2 Jeeps was the man who instigated the new system of trials which operated this season, involving games between England's regions and divisions.
c. A contest in which horses, dogs, etc., are put through various tests and assessed on their performance.
1942R. B. Kelley Animal Breeding xvi. 145 The second kind of trial endeavours to set out a course during which the dog is required to perform the tasks of everyday life. 1946M. C. Self Horseman's Encycl. 196 Working hunter trials. Jumps 4 feet to 4 feet 6 inches. On special course. Details of course to be withheld until one hour before class. 1960J. Stroud Shorn Lamb xv. 175, I was..flitting round the suburbs like a sheepdog at a Trial. 1974Encycl. Brit. Micropædia I. 723/3 The park [at Badminton] is also well-known for its horse trials.
†7. The fact of undergoing or experiencing; experience. to have (or make) trial of, to experience. Obs.
1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa v. 257 Whereof I my selfe haue had often triall. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 512 Henries command was a Law; of which Cromwell had a triall. 1656Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xxiii. (1674) 26 Tyrants, by whom they made trial of the most deplorable miseries. 1657― tr. Paruta's Pol. Disc. 72 Even Augustus himself made trial of many Insurrections in Spain, Germany, and in the Eastern parts. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 178 We had a tryal then of these Panniers, and for my part I was much at my ease.
8. An attempt to do something; an endeavour, effort. (In quot. 1614, an attempt to gain.)
1614Raleigh Hist. World v. iii. §11 [He] went to a greater enterprise; euen to fight in tryall of the Empire. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 72 Ecbar is poysoned;..after foureteene dayes violent torment and trialls to expell the poyson, yeelds up his ghost. 1720Swift Fates Clergymen Wks. 1755 II. ii. 24 But this I confess is a trial too dangerous often to engage in. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §98, I proposed to make a trial for landing if the weather should suit. 1853Lynch Self-Improv. i. 6 If you take away trial, you get rid of failure, but of success too. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xviii. 128 He said he would make the trial.
9. That which puts one to the test; esp. a painful test of one's endurance, patience, or faith; hence, affliction, trouble, misfortune. (Cf. 2 b.)
1754Richardson Grandison (1781) III. i. 9 How would such a creature..have behaved under such tryals? 1831Scott Cast. Dang. xiv, Trials by which the most generous affections may be soured. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. iv, All people have their trials. 1865― Mut. Fr. i. iv, Lavinia has not known the trial that Bella has known. 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay ix, Her life has been a very trying one... I trust its trials will soon be over.
10. a. Something that serves as a sample or proof of a manufacture or material, or of the skill of a maker or operator, the progress of an operation, etc.; spec. in Pottery manuf., a piece of clay or the like by which the progress of the firing process may be judged; a trial-piece.
1608R. Wiffin etc., in Capt. Smith's Wks. (Arb.) 128 Capt. N. being dispatched with the tryals of pitch, tarre, glasse, frankincense, and sope ashes, with that [= what] clapbord and wainscot could bee provided. 1609? N. Powell ibid. 154 Wee..produced a triall of glasse; made a well..re-couered our Church [etc.]. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 469 In different parts of the oven..rings of Egyptian black clay are placed, as trials, by which an experienced fireman can tell how much longer the process must be carried on. 1870J. Roskell in Eng. Mech. 18 Feb. 548/2 If the Copper is intended for rolling purposes, then a large sample termed a trial is taken.
†b. See quot. Obs. rare.
1611Cotgr., Languette,..the tryall, or cocke of a ballance.
c. Short for trial-ball, trial-gallop.
1884Illustr. Lond. News 1 Nov. 410/3 Three guineas for a ‘lose’ (besides four guineas for every private ‘trial’). 1897‘Tivoli’ (Bleakley) Short Innings vi, ‘That was a trial!’ he explained. ‘It was the second ball!’ cried Tuckett.
11. A sieve or sifting screen. Now dial.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 446 The spout..receives the bark from the stones, and conveys it into the tryal..which tryal is wired, to shift or dress the bark as it descends from the stones. 1885Cheshire Gloss., Trial, a coarse sieve in a winnowing machine.
12. Phrases. on trial (sense 2), on the basis or condition of being tried, as to take a person or thing on trial, to take subject to the condition of being satisfactory when tried. to be on (his, her, or its) trial (2, 6), to be in a state of probation until it is seen how he or it will succeed or work. See also to put a person on his trial; to bring to trial; to stand (one's) trial, trial by television (media) in sense 1.
1741Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 301 The others were put upon trial again. 1889Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 133 During the thirteenth century they [the monks] were, so to speak, upon their trial. 1904H. Paul Hist. Eng. I. 409 Speaking at the Trinity House on the 9th of June [1855], Prince Albert declared that Constitutional government was on its trial, and urged the duty of placing more confidence in the Ministers of the Crown. [But Pr. Albert's words, as given in Illustr. Lond. News 16 June, 1855, and other newspapers, were ‘Gentlemen, our Constitutional Government is undergoing a heavy trial’ [etc.]. See also Th. Martin Life of Pr. Consort (1874–9).] Mod. I will take the maid for a month on trial. You may have the dust-extractor three days on trial.
13. attrib. and Comb. Of or pertaining to trial; made, done, used, or taken for or as a trial: as trial animal, trial-chord, trial-correction, trial day, trial-examination, trial-feat, trial-fire, trial flight, trial-ground, trial heat (heat n. 10), trial-hole, trial-hour, trial-impression, trial lot, trial marriage, trial match (Cricket), trial night, trial number, trial-ordeal, trial-pan, trial parlour, trial pit, trial plot, trial race, trial separation [separation 3], trial stone, trial time, trial-working, trial-yard; also pl., as trials cap, trials man, trials secretary; also trial balance, in book-keeping by double entry, an addition of the whole of the entries on each side of the ledger, when the sum of the debits ought to balance the sum of the credits; † trial ball Cricket , a practice ball which a bowler was formerly allowed to bowl before beginning his first over (obs.); trial balloon = ballon d'essai; trial bar, ‘a cuboid used by turners for testing the inclination of planes’ (Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909); trial bit, an adjustable bit for measuring a horse's mouth (Knight Dict. Mech. 1877); trial-book, a book in which a cashier enters sums paid and received so as at any time to take out a trial balance of cash in hand; trial-bred a., of a dog: bred to compete in trials (trial n.1 6 c); trial case = trial sight; trial cock (see quot.); trial court, a court before which trials take place in the first instance; distinguished from an appeal court; trial eight Boat-racing, an eight-oared boat's provisional crew, from among whom some members of the final eight may be chosen; trial glasses (pl.), a set of graduated glasses for ascertaining the requirements of defective vision; trial-jar (see quot.); trial judge, t. justice: cf. trial court; trial jury, a petty jury, distinguished from a grand jury (Webster, 1911); trial lawyer, a lawyer practising in a trial court; trial-list, the register of causes or prisoners to be tried; the calendar (Cassell's Encycl. Dict. 1888); trial-piece, something made or taken as a specimen; spec. a coin or the like struck as a test of the die, or as a specimen of the design; trial plate, in assaying coin (see quot.); trial proof, a proof taken from a plate during the process of engraving to show its state; trial run, a preliminary trip given to a new vessel or vehicle, to test its performance; freq. transf. or fig.; trial sight (see quot.); trial (spectacle) frame, an adjustable frame with revolving graduated fittings to hold trial glasses (q.v.); trial square, a try-square (Knight Dict. Mech. 1877); trial trench Archæol., an exploratory trench dug on a site; hence trial-trench vb. intr.; trial-trip, a trip taken to test the speed and other qualities of a vessel, etc.
1905Brit. Med. Jrnl. 27 May 1141 The dose which the *trial animals stood will set up serious symptoms in the infected ones.
1838*Trial Balance [see balance-sheet s.v. balance n. 22]. 1910Encycl. Brit. IV. 227/1 A trial balance is thus no very adequate safeguard against fraud. 1978Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. c 16/5 (Advt.), Local Co. needs a mature individual for full-charge bookkeeping thru trial balance.
1830in R. S. Holmes Hist. Yorks. County Cricket (1904) 25 It is usual for a bowler, before he commences, to bowl a *trial ball at one of his colleagues. 1870Times 1 Sept. 10/4 The former [bowler] preluded his successes..with three trial balls.
1939Sun (Baltimore) 21 Apr. 3/4 Congressional moves to bar alliance members from relief funds are in the ‘*trial balloon’ stage. 1949Q. Howe in W. Safire New Lang. Politics (1968) 454/1 He [sc. Theodore Roosevelt] also originated the ‘trial-balloon’ technique and gave favored correspondents ‘off-the-record’ statements that they attributed to ‘authoritative sources’. If the statement caught on, Roosevelt would make it his own. If it fell flat, he would drop it. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1976) II. 590 Since I'd been wanting to launch a trial balloon on this subject, I aired my views at length.
1890Times 11 July 13/5 Witness drew his attention to the figures in the cashier's *trial-book, and asked how he accounted for them.
1948J. A. Reid in B. Vesey-Fitzgerald Bk. Dog 749 The ‘*trial-bred’ collie. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 9 Feb. 91/3 Many collies lie down almost instinctively and, among trial-bred dogs, getting them to stay on their feet is far more difficult.
1901Daily Chron. 23 Nov. 9/5 A ‘*Trials’ cap is eagerly sought after, and the inclusion of ‘Old Blues’ robs other men of their chance.
1889Brinsmead Hist. Pianoforte 187 The *trial-chord, when struck, should produce a rapid beat or series of undulations of sound.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 167 *Trial or gauge cocks..to ascertain the height of the water in the boiler.
1867–77G. F. Chambers Astron. i. xi. 129 Applying this..to the eclipses in the form of a *trial-correction.
1890U.S. Rep. (Supreme Court) CXXXVII. 347 On review in this court, the rulings of the *trial court were sustained. 1907Westm. Gaz. 4 Apr. 2/1 The new law permits the Government to appeal from certain judgments of the trial Court.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 114 That Doyt that ere I wrested from the King..Be brought against me at my *Tryall day.
1873C. C. Knollys Oxf. Univ. Challenge Races p. iii, The crews of the *Trial and University Eights. 1900W. E. Sherwood Oxford Rowing 63 In 1858..considerable alterations were made..the most important perhaps being the establishment of the Trial Eight Race.
1878Stubbs Lect. Med. & Mod. Hist. (1886) 157 [The Crusades] were the *trial-feat of the young world.
1598Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 88 With *Triall-fire touch me his finger end.
1909F. Ash Trip to Mars xii. 89, I only took my *trial flight in it yesterday!
1891Cent. Dict., *Trial glasses. 1895Arnold & Sons' Catal. Surg. Instrum. 125 Spectacle Frame, plain, for Trial Glasses.
1878Ure Dict. Arts IV. 323 The Mont Cenis tunnel formed the greatest *trial-ground ever brought to the attention of inventors and makers of either rock-drills or air-compressors. 1909West. Gaz. 29 May 9/4 Arrangements have been made for aeroplane flights..at Wembley, where an excellent stretch of suitable trial-ground exists.
1894A. Robertson Nuggets, etc. 212 He turned from side to side, apparently looking for a digger's *trial-hole that would suit his purpose. 1907Sir W. M. Ramsay in Expositor Sept. 203 The terms of our firman permitted..the making of trial-holes.
1847M. Howitt Ballads, etc. 317 In this, the fiercest *trial-hour, My doubting soul sustain!
1879H. Phillips Addit. Notes Coins 1 There are also leaden *trial-impressions of the dies.
1877Knight Dict. Mech., *Trial-jar, a tall glass vessel used for containing liquids to be tested by the hydrometer.
1892U.S. Rep. (Supreme Court) CXLI. 562 The conclusion of the *trial judge was that the second claim of the reissue was an enlargement of the single claim of the original patent.
1884Pacific Reporter IV. 255 A *trial jury in this territory is a body of 12 men, possessing the requisite qualifications, duly summoned, and sworn to well and truly try the questions of fact submitted to them by the court, and a true verdict render according to the law and the evidence.
1929R. R. Morton What Negro Thinks 146 His practice is seldom that of a *trial lawyer, but rather as an adjuster of cases and an adviser in civil processes. 1983‘E. Lathen’ Green grow Dollars vi. 48 She..had steered Wisconsin Seedsmen into the arms of the right trial lawyer.
1908Westm. Gaz. 11 June 2/1 They..gave orders for *trial lots [of soft wire-rods].
1897Outing (U.S.) XXIX. 485/1 The result is a lot of fast *trial-machines, all of one general family.
1905Daily Chron. 1 July 6/4 Both crews are awarded their distinctive medals, and every member may wear the ‘Trials’ cap—the white flannel cap with the crossed oars. The ‘*Trials’ man is out of the ruck.
1906E. C. Parsons Family vii. 142 *Trial-marriage is a variety of time-marriage, it being distinctly agreed that the relationship may be dissolved by either man or woman at any time. 1930New Statesman 27 Dec. 355/2 The Bishops of Miss Dunbar's Church recently gave an episcopal blessing to birth control, one prominent clergyman approving trial marriage. 1977Time 4 Apr. 11/2 For the moment, the Liberals and Labour are only committed to keep their trial marriage going until the end of this parliamentary session in November.
1833J. Nyren Yng. Cricketer's Tutor 58 The whole country round would flock to see one of their *trial matches.
1825P. Egan Life of Actor vii. 253 Our hero received a letter, offering him a *trial night in Hamlet. 1904W. D. Adams Dict. Drama I. 187/2 At last in 1817 he was granted, through the influence of friends, a trial-night at Covent Garden.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 273 The Greenwich method of arriving at the *trial number.
1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 500 Inasmuch as the samples of ore were not large in quantity, they commenced making small *trial-pans.
1555Bradford Let. in Foxe A. & M. (1570) 1834/2 You are in the schole-house and *triall parlour of the Lord.
1663Inscr. Simon's Petit. Crown, Thomas Simon most humbly prays your Majesty to compare this his *tryall piece with the Dutch [etc.]. 1830[E. Hawkins] Anglo-French Coinage 64, I cannot consider this as current money, neither does it exactly come under the description of a trial piece. 1859Edin. Rev. CIX. 377 Cicero attempted to make words, and his trial-pieces were very neat..struck of good metal. 1904Westm. Gaz. 11 July 10/2 Some interesting trial-pieces..executed in true fresco on a suitable ground before beginning to paint on the wall.
1905D. MacKenzie Let. in Observer (1962) 11 Feb. 11/3 The many preliminary *trial-pits sunk in the early years of the excavation. 1966Trial pit [see soil survey s.v. soil n.1 10].
1883Encycl. Brit. XVI. 484/1 Pieces cut from *trial plates of standard fineness,..being assayed against the coins under examination.
1906Westm. Gaz. 20 Aug. 3/1 The county [Gloucestersh.] happens to be one which affords a great variety of experiment owing to the variety of its soils... Hence the advent of the *trial plots.
1891Cent. Dict., *Trial proof. 1900Westm. Gaz. 8 Nov. 1/3 These rare mezzotints are all in trial proof state. 1903Daily Chron. 3 Aug. 3/3 The prints exist in a far less ‘restricted’ number than he imagines, and are not by any means chiefly trial-proofs.
1847Illustr. Lond. News 10 July 23/2 The first day is to be occupied with the *trial races.
1903Trans. Inst. Naval Archit. XLV. 295 Some twenty *trial runs..were made under various conditions as to speed. 1909Chambers's Jrnl. 25 Sept. 675/1 The first great trial-run of a number of motor-cars. 1949Sun (Baltimore) 22 July 1/2 The House rejected the proposal for a ‘trial run’ of the Brannan farm program for a period of two years. 1962Rep. Comm. Broadcasting 1960 4 in Parl. Papers 1961–2 (Cmnd. 1753) IX. 259 Two trial runs of local sound broadcasting were arranged for us. 1974D. Seaman Bomb that could Lip Read xviii. 177 The government desperately wants the new [Irish] Assembly to have a peaceful trial run.
1968Listener 4 Oct. 439/2 We are telling our friends that he's not around because we've agreed to a *trial separation. 1978M. Tripp Wife-Smuggler ii. 20 When I suggested..a trial separation she said..I didn't have the guts to make a clean break.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Supp., *Trial Sight (Optical), an oculist's case of trial lenses, etc., for testing sight.
Ibid. 903/2 A *trial spectacle frame, with double grooves to each eye, graduated to 180°... Used for finding the axis of imperfect vision in astigmatism or cylindrical cornea.
1877W. R. Cooper Egypt. Obelisks xxii. (1878) 126 A *trial stone for every idle Greek or ignorant tourist to cut his initials upon.
c1841Arnold in Stanley Life (1845) II. x. 300 The first seventy years of the eighteenth century,..the abused *trial time of modern Europe. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 79 It was a long trial-time, in which they were taught entire dependance upon God.
1947E. African Ann. 1946–7 67/2 Once *trial trenches had been cut, it became obvious that the site was even more important than we had at first believed. 1980Rescue News Sept. 2/3 In the first small trial trench was found a rim of Saxo-Norman pottery.
1954M. Beresford Lost Villages App. iii. 416 The position of each house is clearly visible, thus precluding the need to *trial-trench to find structures.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Trial-trip, an experimental trip. 1902E. Banks Newspaper Girl 211, I wouldn't let any reporter take the trial trip, anyway.
1905A. R. Wallace Life II. 182 The house being used for prospecting purposes and *trial-workings.
b. attrib. in pl. (cf. sense 2 c above), as trials bike, trials rider, trials riding, etc.
1969Daily Tel. 25 Oct. 8/8 Quite a few leading trials riders are farmers... Light-weight two-stroke machines are now favoured for trials work. 1976Trials enthusiast [see sense 2 c above]. 1976Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 10 Nov. 21/1 The cream of British trials riders left their native Yorkshire and came south to compete in rain and mud in the National Perce Simon and Hoad Trophy Trials. 1976Norwich Mercury 19 Nov. 12/1 Trials riding is the cheapest form of motor cycle sport. 1977West Briton 25 Aug. 10/3 The new trials bike group..have raised half the {pstlg}180 for their trials machine by a sponsored walk.
▪ II. † trial, n.2 Obs. rare.
In 5 tryall.
[App. an ignorant combination of tri- + -al1.]
A group or set of three, a triad. (In the second quot. confusedly used for each one of the three.)
a1500Chester Pl. i. 7, I am the tryall of the trynitie that neuer shall be twynninge. Ibid. 17 These three tryalls in a Trone and true Trynitie Be grounded in my godhead, exalted by my exellence.
▪ III. ˈtrial, a. Gram.
[f. L. tri-, stem of trēs, tria three + -al1, after dual.]
Applied to a ‘number’ or inflected form denoting three, in some languages of New Guinea and Polynesia; = trinal a. 3.
1886J. Inglis In New Hebrides ix. 99 There are four numbers in the personal pronouns [used by the Aneityumese], the singular, the dual, the trial, and the plural; as I, we two, we three, and we all. 1911Bible in World July 206/2 The Kiwai language is one of the most difficult in New Guinea... The verb..distinguishes singular, dual, trial (3) and plural number both in the subject and object.
▪ IV. trial, v.|ˈtraɪəl|
[f. trial n.1]
trans. To submit (something, esp. a new product) to a test or trial; to test.
1981M. H. Aston in Lewis & Tagg Computers in Educ. 385 Several distribution models are already being trialled in the United Kingdom. 1982Internat. Conf. Road Traffic Signalling (IEE Conf. Ser. ccvii.) 123/1 The radar was briefly trialled in two road situations, a T-junction and a straight section of road. 1982ICL News Mar. 2/5 The 2946 [computer] was successfully trialled on the weekend of February 19. 1984Proc. Conf. NATO Advisory Group Aerospace Res. & Devel. cccxliv. xiv. 1 Field trials models weighing 17kg..have been..extensively trialled in field conditions. |