trial by fire
3
7.4
- noun
- Informal
:
prueba de fuego
- Her first marathon was a trial by fire that pushed her limits and taught her resilience.
- a real trial by fire
- face a trial by fire
- trial by fire experience
Examples
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Deanna Miles, welcome to your trial by fire.
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When he had to lead the project with only a week's notice, it became a trial by fire for his leadership abilities.
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You get your first trial by fire.
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This can be a real trial by fire, though it also forces you to think through important assumptions that you may not have really examined.
Blog text (17) -
They undergo a trial by fire.
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We've recruited some fresh blood, and we needed a trial by fire to introduce them.
Blog text (25) -
I know it may seem like trial by fire, but these projects come along and you've got to get your hands in them at some point.
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These volunteers, having gained real trial-by-fire experience working on the largest special event recycling program in history, now represent a pool of capable and trained volunteers who can be drawn upon to act as crew leaders at future events.
Academic text (1996) -
Kevin Kennedy's first trial by fire was in 2004, when, as head of the old Elections Board, he hired the global conglomerate Accenture to develop the state's first voter registration list.
Blog text (3) -
Starting a new job during the pandemic was a real trial by fire for her, testing her skills in unexpected ways.
Synonyms
755
1.0
A situation that challenges a person's ability or courage
87
3.5
A difficult experience that tests your patience
1
7.7
A first hard experience that tests someone's ability and courage
A way to decide if someone is guilty by making them do dangerous tests and seeing if they survive
Antonyms
How Difficult
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase pairs 'trial' (a test) with 'fire' (danger/intense challenge), so a learner who knows the words can plausibly infer it means a severe or proving test. Because this is a metaphorical extension (historically 'ordeal by fire') rather than a strictly literal composition, it is partially predictable but not fully transparent.
Etymology
The idiom trial by fire comes from old ways when people had to hold hot metal or walk over burning coals as a trial with fire to 'prove' they were innocent. That's why today trial by fire means a very hard 'test' or experience that shows what someone can do.