ordeal
Word family adjectiveordaliannounordeal
or·deal /ɔːˈdiːl, ˈɔːdiːl $ ɔːrˈdiːl, ˈɔːrdiːl/ ●○○ noun [countableC] EXPERIENCEa terrible or painful experience that continues for a period of time 可怕的经历,痛苦的折磨ordeal of She then had to go through the ordeal of giving evidence. 此后她不得不经历提供证词的痛苦。
She was forced to face the ordeal of withdrawal symptoms. 她被迫面对脱瘾症状的痛苦折磨。
He was beginning to wonder if he would survive the ordeal. 他开始怀疑自己能否熬过这场磨难。
Teresa had a transplant in 1989 and was just recovering from that ordeal when she suffered a brain hemorrhage. 特雷莎在1989年做了一次移植手术,而正当她刚刚从那可怕的磨难中逐渐恢复时,又患了脑溢血。
Soon the whole terrifying ordeal would be over. 这场恐怖的磨难很快就会过去的。
n COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa terrible/dreadful ordealThe trial was a dreadful ordeal.
a long ordealAfter thirteen days, the hostages' long ordeal finally ended.
a terrifying ordealBruce Gordon has described his terrifying ordeal in a shark attack.
a painful ordeal (=a very bad or painful experience)The treatment she had to go through was a painful ordeal.
verbsgo through an ordeal (also undergo an ordeal formal) (=experience something that is very bad or difficult)I'd already gone through the ordeal of a divorce once.
The girl will not have to undergo the ordeal of giving evidence in court.
face an ordealHe faced the ordeal of caring for his dying wife.
endure an ordealIn his book, he describes how he endured the ordeal of prison life.
survive an ordealThe woman survived her ordeal and identified her attacker.
recover from an ordealShe is recovering from her ordeal after a bomb went off on the train she was on.
subject somebody to an ordeal (=make someone suffer something very painful or frightening)Simon Collier was subjected to a horrifying ordeal at gunpoint.
spare somebody the ordeal of something (=not make someone have to do something difficult)Thank goodness she was spared the ordeal of surgery.
phrasesan ordeal at the hands of somebody (=used to say who has made someone go through something painful or difficult)She has only just revealed her ordeal at the hands of her stepfather.
terrifying ordeal• But he is rescued, along with others, and the whole terrifying ordeal, he discovers, becomes a big joke. Origin ordeal Old English ordal “trial, judgment”