trial by fire

Definitions

1. 1

   A test in which a person is exposed to flames in order to assess their truthfulness,…

   A test in which a person is exposed to flames in order to assess their truthfulness, commitment, courage etc.

   • [T]he final test, the trial by fire, which took place in a subterranean chamber of the great temple, resulted in a candidate whose courage failed him being precipitated into that lake of flame which I have already described.
2. 2

   A situation in which a soldier or other combatant faces the discharge of opposing…

   A situation in which a soldier or other combatant faces the discharge of opposing weapons, as a test of their fortitude.

   • French troops, submitting to a trial by fire, drew toward the German forts, capturing and holding some machine-gun nests.
   • Pork Chop Hill. Director Lewis Milestone . . . has produced a nerve-shattering study of how the American infantryman met his trial by fire in Korea.
3. 3

   Any ordeal which tests one's strength, endurance or resolve.

   • But take it all in all, the overland trail was a trial by fire. One gets a notion of its deadliness from the fact that over five thousand people died of cholera alone.
   • Now, residents' legendary 100+-hour workweek may be on its way out. . . . Some doctors insist the long hours are a necessary trial by fire that produces highly skilled, virtually unflappable physicians.

The neighborhood

• neighborbaptism by fire
• neighbortrial by combat
• neighbortrial by ordeal
• neighborcrucible