gruellings

Noun

gruelling (plural gruellings)

1. A race in which the animal being raced finishes in a state of physical exhaustion.
   • The expenses are considerably reduced, and one or two men are prevented from carrying off nearly all the races ; for though " the spirit" may be ever so " willing," the " flesh is weak," and cannot stand more than five or six gruellings in a single day.1869, John William Carleton, The Sporting review, ed. by 'Craven'., page 394
2. A gruelling ordeal.
   • It was the hardest fighting that our Canadians have been up against, and the manner in which they took these terrible gruellings and assaults is one of the most creditable occurrences in the annals of this great war."1919, John Castell Hopkins, Robert John Renison, Canada at War, 1914-1918: A Record of Heroism and Achievement

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