a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence
a show of military force or preparedness; "he confused the enemy with feints and demonstrations"
a public display of group feelings (usually of a political nature); "there were violent demonstrations against the war"
proof by a process of argument or a series of proposition proving an asserted conclusion
a visual presentation showing how something works; "the lecture was accompanied by dramatic demonstrations"; "the lecturer shot off a pistol as a demonstration of the startle response"
a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose; "my invaluable assistant"; "they hired additional help to finish the work"
someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches
the act of subjecting to experimental test in order to determine how well something works; "they agreed to end the testing of atomic weapons"
an examination of the characteristics of something; "there are laboratories for commercial testing"; "it involved testing thousands of children for smallpox"