on trial

idiom

: in a situation in which evidence against one is presented in a court to a judge and often a jury to decide if one is guilty of a crime

on trial for murder

She went on trial for possession of drugs.

—sometimes used figuratively to indicate that people will think about something in a critical way

The controversial case has put the entire health care system on trial.

Examples of on trial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While all the defendants are on trial together, the jury must decide each defendant's guilt or innocence on each charge individually. —Kelsy Mittauer, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2026

And her adult son is on trial on rape charges. —semafor.com, 23 Feb. 2026

The lawyers who flanked Gisèle Pelicot in court, protected her from cameras, took her to lunch every day so that she wouldn’t be intimidated by seeing some of the men who were on trial for assaulting her drinking beer and laughing together in a nearby café. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 20 Feb. 2026

After five years with the Houston Dynamo, Bartlow, 26, spent this year’s preseason on trial with Sporting. —The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 20 Feb. 2026

Rhymes for on trial

• dial
• rial
• thiol
• vial
• denial
• mistrial
• posttrial
• pretrial
• retrial
• sensorial
• supervisorial