A painful or trying experience. / 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.

plural of ordeal

(law) An archaic practice by which a person accused of a crime could prove his innocence by his survival of physically painful tests.

plural of trial by ordeal

The Calabar bean.

A poisonous tree of Madagascar (Cerbera manghas (syn. Tanghinia venenifera). Those suspected of crime were forced to eat the seeds of the plumlike fruit, and criminals were put to death by being pricked with a lance dipped in the juice of the seeds.

plural of ordeal tree

plural of ordeal bean