Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: ordal 'trial, judgment'

ordeal

 noun
     
or‧deal [countable]
a terrible or painful experience that continues for a period of timeCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
go though an ordeal face an ordeal survive an ordeal recover from an ordeal spare somebody the ordeal of doing something (=not make someone have to do something) terrible/dreadful ordeal terrifying ordeal
ordeal of
She then had to go through the ordeal of giving evidence.
She was forced to face the ordeal of withdrawal symptoms.
He was beginning to wonder if he would survive the ordeal.
Teresa had a transplant in 1989 and was just recovering from that ordeal when she suffered a brain hemorrhage.
Soon the whole terrifying ordeal would be over.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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