ordeal — ozdic

Collocations

10

1

(noun.)

ADJ

long | dreadful, terrible, terrifying

VERB + ORDEAL

endure, face, go through, suffer, undergo

subject sb to

The hostages were subjected to a frightening ordeal before finally being released.

survive | recover from | be spared

PREP

~ by

Going through airport security with three children was an ordeal by patience that we barely survived.

~ of

Going through the ordeal of a job interview made her extremely nervous.

PHRASES

an ordeal at the hands of sb

The refugees described their traumatic ordeal at the hands of human traffickers.

Definitions

noun

1

A trial in which the accused was subjected to a dangerous test (such as ducking in water), divine authority deciding the guilt of the accused.

trial by ordeal

2

A painful or trying experience.

“And do you realize that in a few shakes I've got to show up at dinner and have Mrs Cream being very, very kind to me? It hurts the pride of the Woosters, Jeeves.” “My advice, sir, would be to fortify yourself for the ordeal.” “How?” “There are always cocktails, sir. Should I pour you another?” “You should.”

All the same, nearly eight hours on the footplate covering a distance of 320 miles, with an ambient temperature of up to 103° for much of the time, proved an ordeal which I would not lightly undertake again.

3

The poisonous ordeal bean or Calabar bean.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

Example Bank

6

01

trial by ordeal

Wiktionary

02

“And do you realize that in a few shakes I've got to show up at dinner and have Mrs Cream being very, very kind to me? It hurts the pride of the Woosters, Jeeves.” “My advice, sir, would be to fortify

Wiktionary

03

All the same, nearly eight hours on the footplate covering a distance of 320 miles, with an ambient temperature of up to 103° for much of the time, proved an ordeal which I would not lightly undertake

Wiktionary

04

Bob has to get through this ordeal on his own.

Tatoeba · #33180

05

Tom told Mary about last night's ordeal.

Tatoeba · #1092725

06

Tom couldn't talk about his ordeal with anyone.

Tatoeba · #1095048

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, ordeal is marked as figuratively, historical. Watch for register when choosing this word.