ordeal
[noun]
Synonyms: hardship, agony, anguish, baptism of fire, nightmare, suffering, test, torture, trial, tribulation(s)

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

or‧deal /ɔːˈdiːl, ˈɔːdiːl $ ɔːrˈdiːl, ˈɔːrdiːl/ noun [countable]
[Language: Old English; Origin: ordal 'trial, judgment']
a terrible or painful experience that continues for a period of time
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.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

ordeal
noun
ADJ. long | dreadful, terrible, terrifying
VERB + ORDEAL endure, face, go through, suffer, undergo | subject sb to She was subjected to a terrible six-day ordeal.
survive | recover from | be spared
PREP. ~ by (often humorous) This is the fourth time the prime minister has faced ordeal by egg (= had eggs thrown at him).
~ of They were spared the ordeal of giving evidence in court.
PHRASES an ordeal at the hands of sb their 20-hour ordeal at the hands of a gunman

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

ordeal

a terrible/dreadful ordeal
The trial was a dreadful ordeal.
a long ordeal
After thirteen days, the hostages' long ordeal finally ended.
a terrifying ordeal
Bruce 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.
go 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 ungergo the ordeal of giving evidence in court.
face an ordeal
He faced the ordeal of caring for his dying wife.
endure an ordeal
In his book, he describes how he endured the ordeal of prison life.
survive an ordeal
The woman survived her ordeal and identified her attacker.
recover from an ordeal
She 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.
an 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.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲