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trial by ordeal

   Also found in: Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
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Noun1.trial by 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
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"


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The next disagreeable was confined to his feminine companions; it was the mounting of the polished oak stairs, which had very handsome carpets rolled up and laid by in a spare bedroom, so that the ascent of these glossy steps might have served, in barbarous times, as a trial by ordeal from which none but the most spotless virtue could have come off with unbroken limbs.
The Mill on the Floss by Eliot, George View in context
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