severe test

The Col du Tourmalet, where the leaders met, has mythical status in the Tour de France; its steep and winding ascent is a severe test.

Murrieta Valley quarterback Bear Bachmeier will present a severe test.

The Hai river basin, where five rivers converge in northern China, is going through a "flood evolution process" and flood-control engineering systems are experiencing the "most severe test" since inundations in 1996, state media reported.

That experience was put to a severe test as she worked to assure multiple constituencies, including financial markets, balky Republicans in Congress and President Joe Biden’s White House economic team.

The violence, a severe test for Peru's democracy, is the worst conflict since the late 1990s when the country was gripped by violence between rebel group Shining Path and the state, which left 69,000 people dead or missing over two decades.