the formal examination of a legal dispute in a court, the result of which is the judgment of guilt and innocence for the accused; a test or experiment;
e.g. The terms of the divorce could not be settled outside of court, so the case went to trial before a judge.
(noun)
a chance to run a test on something;
e.g. We're going to first do a trial period with you to see if you are a fit for the job.