ordeal
ordeal — noun
- ordealsingular
- ordealsplural
1. a situation that causes a person great mental or physical suffering, especially
a situation that causes a person great mental or physical suffering, especially one that goes on for some time
The family went through the ordeal of moving abroad without knowing the language.
ordeal of + gerund
Lan said her ordeal in the refugee camp was the worst time of her life.
After the earthquake, the survivors faced a long ordeal of finding food and shelter.
For Tomás, the job interview turned into a three-hour ordeal with eight different people.
Hikers endured a terrible ordeal when snow trapped them on a mountain for two nights.
- trial
slightly more formal; emphasises the testing aspect of the experience
- hardship
focuses on ongoing difficulty rather than a single intense event
- nightmare
more informal and emotional; suggests the experience was terrifying
- tribulation
more formal and literary; often has religious overtones
文法句型
ordeal of + noun/gerund
ordeal for + person
用法筆記
Often used with verbs like 'go through', 'endure', 'face', or 'survive'. The object is typically described with an adjective (terrible, long, whole) or the structure 'ordeal of + gerund'.
常見錯誤
2. in medieval and ancient societies, a formal test in which an accused person was
in medieval and ancient societies, a formal test in which an accused person was made to undergo a dangerous or painful task; surviving or recovering from the test was regarded as evidence that the person was blameless, because people believed God or the gods were protecting them
In medieval Europe, accused people faced ordeal by fire to test their guilt.
pattern: ordeal by [element]
Trial by ordeal was gradually replaced by the jury system from the thirteenth century onward.
collocation: trial by ordeal
Ordeal by water meant throwing the accused into a river; drowning proved guilt.
In some West African ordeals, suspects drank poison to prove their innocence.
- trial by ordeal
the full fixed phrase; more specific than 'ordeal' alone
- judgment of God
the medieval theological concept underlying trial by ordeal
文法句型
trial by ordeal
ordeal by + noun
用法筆記
Always refers to historical practices, never modern legal systems. Commonly appears in fixed phrases 'trial by ordeal' and 'ordeal by fire/water'. Distinguished from sense 1 by its historical/legal context and by referring to a formal procedure rather than any difficult experience.