| try | | |
| n. (act) | 1. attempt, effort, endeavor, endeavour, try | earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something.; "made an effort to cover all the reading material"; "wished him luck in his endeavor"; "she gave it a good try" |
| ~ batting | (baseball) the batter's attempt to get on base. |
| ~ best | the supreme effort one can make.; "they did their best" |
| ~ worst | the weakest effort or poorest achievement one is capable of.; "it was the worst he had ever done on a test" |
| ~ activity | any specific behavior.; "they avoided all recreational activity" |
| ~ bid, play | an attempt to get something.; "they made a futile play for power"; "he made a bid to gain attention" |
| ~ fling, go, offer, whirl, crack, pass | a usually brief attempt.; "he took a crack at it"; "I gave it a whirl" |
| ~ essay | a tentative attempt. |
| ~ foray | an initial attempt (especially outside your usual areas of competence).; "scientists' forays into politics" |
| ~ contribution, share, part | the part played by a person in bringing about a result.; "I am proud of my contribution in advancing the project"; "they all did their share of the work" |
| ~ liberation | the attempt to achieve equal rights or status.; "she worked for women's liberation" |
| ~ mug's game | a futile or unprofitable endeavor. |
| ~ power play, squeeze play, squeeze | an aggressive attempt to compel acquiescence by the concentration or manipulation of power.; "she laughed at this sexual power play and walked away" |
| ~ seeking | an attempt to acquire or gain something. |
| ~ stab, shot | informal words for any attempt or effort.; "he gave it his best shot"; "he took a stab at forecasting" |
| ~ shot | an attempt to score in a game. |
| ~ nisus, pains, striving, strain | an effortful attempt to attain a goal. |
| ~ struggle, battle | an energetic attempt to achieve something.; "getting through the crowd was a real struggle"; "he fought a battle for recognition" |
| ~ takeover attempt | an attempt to take control of a corporation. |
| ~ trial, run, test | the act of testing something.; "in the experimental trials the amount of carbon was measured separately"; "he called each flip of the coin a new trial" |
| ~ trial, test | the act of undergoing testing.; "he survived the great test of battle"; "candidates must compete in a trial of skill" |
| v. (social) | 2. assay, attempt, essay, seek, try | make an effort or attempt.; "He tried to shake off his fears"; "The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps"; "The police attempted to stop the thief"; "He sought to improve himself"; "She always seeks to do good in the world" |
| ~ pick up the gauntlet, take a dare | be dared to do something and attempt it. |
| ~ act, move | perform an action, or work out or perform (an action).; "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" |
| ~ struggle, fight | make a strenuous or labored effort.; "She struggled for years to survive without welfare"; "He fought for breath" |
| ~ have a go, give it a try | make an attempt at something.; "I never sat on a horse before but I'll give it a go" |
| ~ grope | search blindly or uncertainly.; "His mind groped to make the connection" |
| ~ endeavor, endeavour, strive | attempt by employing effort.; "we endeavor to make our customers happy" |
| ~ give it a try, give it a whirl | try.; "let's give it a whirl!" |
| ~ adventure, gamble, run a risk, take a chance, take chances, chance, risk, hazard | take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome.; "When you buy these stocks you are gambling" |
| ~ lay on the line, put on the line, risk | expose to a chance of loss or damage.; "We risked losing a lot of money in this venture"; "Why risk your life?"; "She laid her job on the line when she told the boss that he was wrong" |
| v. (social) | 3. essay, examine, prove, test, try, try out | put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to.; "This approach has been tried with good results"; "Test this recipe" |
| ~ pass judgment, evaluate, judge | form a critical opinion of.; "I cannot judge some works of modern art"; "How do you evaluate this grant proposal?"; "We shouldn't pass judgment on other people" |
| ~ verify, control | check or regulate (a scientific experiment) by conducting a parallel experiment or comparing with another standard.; "Are you controlling for the temperature?" |
| ~ float | circulate or discuss tentatively; test the waters with.; "The Republicans are floating the idea of a tax reform" |
| ~ field-test | test something under the conditions under which it will actually be used.; "The Army field tested the new tanks" |
| v. (social) | 4. adjudicate, judge, try | put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of.; "The football star was tried for the murder of his wife"; "The judge tried both father and son in separate trials" |
| ~ decide, make up one's mind, determine | reach, make, or come to a decision about something.; "We finally decided after lengthy deliberations" |
| ~ court-martial | subject to trial by court-martial. |
| v. (consumption) | 5. sample, taste, try, try out | take a sample of.; "Try these new crackers"; "Sample the regional dishes" |
| ~ ingest, consume, have, take in, take | serve oneself to, or consume regularly.; "Have another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee" |
| ~ degust | taste with relish.; "degust this wonderful soup" |
| v. (social) | 6. hear, try | examine or hear (evidence or a case) by judicial process.; "The jury had heard all the evidence"; "The case will be tried in California" |
| ~ probe, examine | question or examine thoroughly and closely. |
| ~ rehear, retry | hear or try a court case anew. |
| v. (emotion) | 7. try | give pain or trouble to.; "I've been sorely tried by these students" |
| ~ anguish, pain, hurt | cause emotional anguish or make miserable.; "It pains me to see my children not being taught well in school" |
| v. (emotion) | 8. strain, stress, try | test the limits of.; "You are trying my patience!" |
| ~ afflict | cause great unhappiness for; distress.; "she was afflicted by the death of her parents" |
| ~ rack | stretch to the limits.; "rack one's brains" |
| v. (change) | 9. render, try | melt (fat or lard) in order to separate out impurities.; "try the yak butter"; "render fat in a casserole" |
| ~ cookery, cooking, preparation | the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat.; "cooking can be a great art"; "people are needed who have experience in cookery"; "he left the preparation of meals to his wife" |
| ~ melt, melt down, run | reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating.; "melt butter"; "melt down gold"; "The wax melted in the sun" |
| v. (body) | 10. try, try on | put on a garment in order to see whether it fits and looks nice.; "Try on this sweater to see how it looks" |
| ~ don, put on, get into, assume, wear | put clothing on one's body.; "What should I wear today?"; "He put on his best suit for the wedding"; "The princess donned a long blue dress"; "The queen assumed the stately robes"; "He got into his jeans" |
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