try

An attempt.

Adjective

  1. Fine, excellent.
    • But he her ſuppliant hands, thoſe hands of gold, / And eke her feete, thoſe feete of ſiluer trye, […] Chopt off […]. - 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London:...

Origin

From Middle English trye, trie, probably from Old French trié, past participle of Old French trier (“to try”).

Forms

more try most try

Noun

  1. An attempt.
    • I gave unicycling a try but I couldn’t do it.
    • There was the day also when his favourite right uppercut had connected in most accurate and rhythmical fashion with the protruded chin of Bull Wardell of Whitechapel, whereby Silas put himself in the way of a Lonsdale...
    • When Papillon makes his last impossible try for freedom they embrace with the tendresse of lovers, however manly and platonic. - 1974 February 2, Jonathan Cross, “Poor Butterfly”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number...
  2. An act of tasting or sampling.
    • I gave sushi a try but I didn’t like it.
  3. A score in rugby league and rugby union, analogous to a touchdown in American football.
    • Today I scored my first try.
    • But two penalties and a drop-goal from Jonny Wilkinson, despite a host of other wayward attempts, plus a late try from Chris Ashton were enough to send a misfiring England through. - 2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby...
  4. A screen, or sieve, for grain.
    • They will not passe thorough the holes of the sieve, ruddle or trie, if they be narrow. - 1603, Plutarch, translated by Philemon Holland, The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield,...
  5. A field goal or extra point
  6. A move that almost solves a chess problem, except that Black has a unique defense.
  7. A block of code that may trigger exceptions the programmer expects to catch, usually demarcated by the keyword try.

    Coordinate Terms: except catch

Origin

From Middle English trien (“to separate out, sift, choose, select, evaluate, try a legal case”), from Anglo-Norman trier, triher, triere (“to divide, separate, choose, select, prove, determine, try a case”), Old French trier (“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Occitan triar (“to choose, sort, scrutinise, peel”), Catalan triar (“to pick, choose, decide”). Suggested to be derived from Late Latin *trītāre (“to crush, grind, trample, wear out”), itself derived from Classical Latin trītus (“rubbed, worn down, pulverised”), the past participle of terō, terere (“to rub, wear down, trample”), though this derivation is incompatible with the Occitan form. Additionally, the shift in meaning from "rub, crush, trample" to "pick out, choose, cull" is difficult to explain. One suggestion is that the semantic shift might have originated from a...

Forms

tries trie

Synonyms

bash go stab whirl sampling taste tasting touchdown extra point

Derived

captain's try college try give a try good try interception try nice try old college try penalty try Terms derived from the noun try try cock try-scorer tryscorer tryscoring

Verb

  1. To attempt; to endeavour. Followed by infinitive.
    • I tried to rollerblade, but I couldn’t.
    • Can you start the car? —I'll try (to).
    • Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by...
  2. To divide; to separate.
    • […]euery feend his buſie paines applyde, / To melt the golden metall, ready to be tryde. - 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC,...

    1. To separate (precious metal etc.) from the ore by melting; to purify, refine.

    2. (one sort from another) To winnow; to sift; to pick out; frequently followed by out.

      • to try out the wild corn from the good
      • the wylde corne, beinge in shap and greatnesse lyke to the good, if they be mengled, with great difficultie will be tried out - 1531, Thomas Elyot, The Boke Named the Governour […], London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti,...

    3. (nautical) To extract oil from blubber or fat; to melt down blubber to obtain oil

    4. To extract wax from a honeycomb

  3. To test, to work out.
    • I tried mixing more white paint to get a lighter shade.

    1. To make an experiment. Usually followed by a present participle.

    2. To put to test.

      • I shall try my skills on this.
      • The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs....
      • “So mousie shall only find tins on the floor now,” thought Miss Mapp. “Mousie shall try his teeth on tins.” - 1922, E. F. Benson, Miss Mapp, p. 89:

    3. (specifically) To test someone's patience.

      • You are trying my patience.
      • Don't try me.

    4. (figuratively, chiefly used in the imperative) To receive an imminent attack; to take.

      • Mona: Try this vampire bolt on for size! Cedric: Why don't you try this alien bolt? - 1999, Mona the Vampire, "The X-Change Student" (season 1, episode 6a)

    5. To taste, sample, etc.

      • Oh, you need to try the soup of the day!
      • Calvin: What's this disgusting slimy blob? Dad: Try it. You'll love it. - 1986 January 22, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

    6. To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test.

      • to try weights or measures by a standard; to try a person's opinions
      • Let the end try the man. - c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:...

    7. (with indirect interrogative clause) To attempt to determine (by experiment or effort).

      • I'll try whether I can make it across town on foot.
      • Sir, the doctors and apothecaries are the greatest thieves in the world; they are always trying which can rob their patients the most. - 1785, James Ridgway, A Dictionary of Literary Conversation:

    8. (law) To put on trial.

      • He was tried and executed.
      • The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence. - 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House...
      • I sit in front of the mirror and try myself. I am no impartial judge, otherwise I would have had myself executed several times over by now. - 1987, Hadi Khorsandi, “It Didn’t Quite Work Out—2”, in Ehssan Javan, transl.,...

      Synonyms: doom judge adjudge adjudicate arbitrate deem hear rule on settle try

  4. To experiment, to strive.
    • […]try the Lybian Heat, or Scythian Cold. - 1697, Virgil, “The First Pastoral. Or, Tityrus and Melibœus.”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […]...
    • Never more Mean I to trie what rash untri'd I sought, The paine of absence from thy sight. - 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […];...

    1. To have or gain knowledge of by experience.

    2. To work on something with one's best effort and focus.

      • Dad, for God's sake, I'm trying my best!
      • You are trying too hard.

    3. (obsolete) To do; to fare.

      • How do you try! (i.e., how do you do?)

    4. To settle; to decide; to determine; specifically, to decide by an appeal to arms.

      • to try rival claims by a duel; to try conclusions
      • […]Left I the Court, to ſee this Quarrell try’de. - 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio),...

    5. (euphemistic, of a couple) To attempt to conceive a child.

  5. To lie to in heavy weather under just sufficient sail to head into the wind.
  6. To strain; to subject to excessive tests.
    • The light tries his eyes.
    • Repeated failures try one's patience.
  7. To want, to desire.
    • I am really not trying to hear you talk about my mama like that.

Forms

tries trying tried no-table-tags glossary try triest triedst trieth - trie

Synonyms

attempt endeavor fand mint take a run at take a stab at strive put keep etc. one's nose to the grindstone put one's back into give 110% break one's back work hard apply oneself sample taste

Related

trial tried and tested tried and true trier

Derived

don't diet, try it don't knock it till you've tried it don't try this at home don't try to teach grandma how to suck eggs for lack of trying I'd like to see someone try I like to see you try mistry must-try overtry retry right to try triable trisexual try as one may try as one might try conclusions try for size tryhard try-hard trying try it on try it on the dog try me