a difficult or unpleasant experience 磨难;折磨;煎熬;严酷的考验 They had survived a terrifying ordeal. 他们经受住了可怕的考验。 The interview was less of an ordeal than she'd expected. 面试并非如她想象的那样可怕。 The hostages spoke openly about the terrible ordeal they had been through. 人质公开陈述了他们所遭受的非人的折磨。 - ordeal of (doing) something
They are to be spared the ordeal of giving evidence in court. 他们将免受出庭作证的难堪。
Extra ExamplesShe was subjected to a terrible six-day ordeal. 她经受了 6 天痛苦折磨。 She's extremely distressed by the whole ordeal. 她对整个磨难感到极度痛苦。 Starting at a new school can be quite an ordeal for a young child. 对于一个小孩子来说,开始一所新学校可能是一场严峻的考验。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- long
- entire
- whole
- …
- endure
- face
- go through
- …
- ordeal of
- an ordeal at the hands of somebody
Word OriginOld English ordāl, ordēl, of Germanic origin; related to German urteilen ‘give judgement’, from a base meaning ‘share out’. The word is not found in Middle English (except once in Chaucer's Troilus); modern use of the current sense began in the mid 17th cent.