Look up: ordeal

1. ordeal
   [n] - a severe or trying experience
   Found on http://www.webdictionary.co.uk/definitio
   
   
2. Ordeal
   Or'de·al (ôr'de* a l) noun [ Anglo-Saxon ordāl , ordǣl , a judgment; akin to Dutch oordeel , German urteil , urtheil ; orig., what is dealt out, the prefix or- being akin to ā-...
   Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/O/29
   
   
3. Ordeal
   Or'de·al adjective Of or pertaining to trial by ordeal.
   Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/O/29
   
   
4. ordeal
   1. An ancient form of test to determine guilt or innocence, by appealing to a supernatural decision, once common in Europe, and still practiced in the East and by savage tribes. ... In England ordeal by fire and ordeal by water were used, the former confined to persons of rank, the latter to the com...
   Found on http://www.mondofacto.com/facts/dictiona
   
   
5. ordeal
   trial by ordeal noun 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
   Found on http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/web
   
   
6. ordeal
   noun a severe or trying experience
   Found on http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/web
   
   
7. Ordeal
   • (n.) Any severe trial, or test; a painful experience. • (n.) An ancient form of test to determine guilt or innocence, by appealing to a supernatural decision, -- once common in Europe, and still practiced in the East and by savage tribes. • (a.) Of or pertaining to trial by ordeal.
   Found on http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning
   
   
8. ordeal
   a trial or judgment of the truth of some claim or accusation by various means based on the belief that the outcome will reflect the judgment of ... [9 related articles]
   Found on http://www.britannica.com/eb/a-z/o/27
   
   
9. ordeal
   ordeal, ancient legal custom whereby an accused person was required to perform a test, the outcome of which decided the person's guilt or innocence. By an ordeal, appeal was made to divine authority to decide the guilt or innocence of one accused of a crime or to choose between disputants. This cust...
   Found on http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0
   
   
10. Ordeal
    An obsolete common law practice, discouraged by the Church, which submitted the accused, or the accuser, or both, to the Judgement of God, usually with fire or water. Whoever died, or whose wounds festered, was considered guilty. An ancient superstitious mode of trial. When in a criminal case the ac...
    Found on http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/o021.htm
    
    
11. Ordeal
    Ordeal is a primitive mode of trial of testing the guilt of an accused person based upon the belief that heaven will protect the innocent and allow the guilty to suffer. Methods employed include walking barefoot on hot coals, dipping the hands into boiling water and carrying red hot irons.
    Found on http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/brow
    
    
12. Ordeal
    (autobiography) `Ordeal` is an autobiography by the former pornographic actress Linda Lovelace (real name Linda Boreman). In the autobiography Lovelace argues that she was acting under coercion during her career in the porn industry. As such Ordeal became influential within the feminist anti-pornography movement. See also:
    Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordeal