Ordeal /(ôr"dē̇*al)/

Or·de·al

Ordeal

n.
  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.
  2. Any severe trial, or test; a painful experience.

Phrases & Compounds
Ordeal bean
See Calabar bean, under Calabar.
Ordeal root
the root of a species of Strychnos growing in West Africa, used, like the ordeal bean, in trials for witchcraft.
Ordeal tree
a poisonous tree of Madagascar (Tanghinia venenata syn. Cerbera venenata). Persons suspected of crime are forced to eat the seeds of the plumlike fruit, and criminals are put to death by being pricked with a lance dipped in the juice of the seeds.

Ordeal

a.
  1. Of or pertaining to trial by ordeal.