delivered at the moment of parting as if in flight or retreat; "paused to deliver a parting shot at the door"; "a Parthian volley of expletives from Uncle Billy"- Bret Harte
indiscriminate slaughter; "a bloodbath took place when the leaders of the plot surrendered"; "ten days after the bloodletting Hitler gave the action its name"; "the valley is no stranger to bloodshed and murder"; "a huge prison battue was ordered"
approaching a particular destination; a coming closer; a narrowing of a gap; "the ship's rapid rate of closing gave them little time to avoid a collision"
final or ending; "the closing stages of the election"; "the closing weeks of the year"; "the closing scene of the film"; "closing remarks"
strictly limiting the reference of a modified word or phrase; "the restrictive clause in `Each made a list of the books that had influenced him' limits the books on the list to only those particular ones defined by the clause"
(law) legal proceedings consisting of the judicial examination of issues by a competent tribunal; "most of these complaints are settled before they go to trial"
(law) the determination of a person's innocence or guilt by due process of law; "he had a fair trial and the jury found him guilty"
trying something to find out about it; "a sample for ten days free trial"; "a trial of progesterone failed to relieve the pain"
an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event; "his mother-in-law's visits were a great trial for him"; "life is full of tribulations"; "a visitation of the plague"
(sports) a preliminary competition to determine qualifications; "the trials for the semifinals began yesterday"