water-ordeal

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

WATER-ORDEAL, noun [water and ordeal.] A judicial trial of persons accused of crimes, by means of water; formerly in use among illiterate and superstitious nations.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

More founding-era words: liberty · virtue · republic · justice · providence · commerce · militia · arms · prudence · establishment · religion · usurpation · tyranny · citizen · unalienable · sovereign