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ordeal

or·deal

ordeal

 
 
pronunciation:
or dil
features:
Word Combinations (noun)
part of speech: noun
definition 1: a painful, exhausting, or emotionally trying experience, esp. when regarded as a test of a person's endurance or character.
A medical internship can be as much an ordeal as a learning experience.The divorce had been an ordeal that she never wanted to repeat.
synonyms:
trial
similar words:
adversity, affliction, blow, calamity, cross, disaster, fire, grief, hardship, misery, nightmare, torment, torture, trauma, tribulation, trouble
definition 2: formerly, a method of deciding guilt or innocence by exposing a person to physical danger or torment, the outcome being considered divine judgment.
It was decided that the man should be tried by ordeal.An ordeal might consist of being made to hold a red-hot iron.
similar words:
trial
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