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 The new trial schedule raises the likelihood that Hunter Biden will be on trial as many voters begin casting their ballots. —

Lucien Bruggeman, ABC News, 22 May 2024 Several reporters protested but were still forced out. – Aysha Bagchi What is Trump on trial for? —

Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY, 21 May 2024 No major presidential candidate has ever run while on trial. —

Jess Bidgood, New York Times, 20 May 2024 Wow, Well, speaking of, obviously, Trump has been on trial over the past few weeks. —

Fortune Editors, Fortune, 15 May 2024 Online court dockets show that Karol-Chik is scheduled to go on trial in June, while Koenig’s trial is currently slated for July. —

Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 11 May 2024 Trump is on trial for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. —

Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY, 11 May 2024 Meanwhile, Trump is on trial in Manhattan for over 34 felony counts of falsified business records. —

Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 10 May 2024 Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 election. —

Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 7 May 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'on trial.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.