Noun

(en noun)

Any adversity; a trying period or event.

* 1535 , , Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation , ch. 6:

For the blessed apostle himself in his sore tribulation', praying thrice unto God to take it away from him, was answered again by God (in a manner) that he was but a fool in asking that request, but that the help of God's grace in that '''tribulation''' to strengthen him was far better for him than to take that ' tribulation from him.

* 1847 , , Omoo , ch. 11:

Baltimore's tribulations were indeed sore; there was no peace for him day nor night.

* 1944 June 27, , Speech in Chicago, Illinois to the 23rd Republican National Convention:

It is youth who must inherit the tribulation , the sorrow and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.

* 2009 Sept. 24, , " Kristina'': A New Musical from the ABBA Guys," ''New York Times (retrieved 12 March 2014):

Essentially stoic, passive characters, Kristina and the others triumph by surviving — by outliving their plagues and tribulations .

Noun

(en noun)

A painful or trying experience.

*

* {{quote-news

, year=2012 , date=December 29 , author=Paul Doyle , title=Arsenal's Theo Walcott hits hat-trick in thrilling victory over Newcastle , work=The Guardian citation , page= , passage=Arsène Wenger confessed: "The result was not an accurate indication of the match." Certainly, at half-time it seemed unlikely that Arsenal would catch fire so spectacularly because the first half was a damp squib of a display from Wenger's team, as Newcastle initially showed no ill-effects from their Old Trafford ordeal .}}

A trial in which the accused was subjected to a dangerous test (such as ducking in water), divine authority deciding the guilt of the accused.