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try

UK/tɹaɪ/ US/t͡ʃɹaɪ̯/ very common slang uk
verb (9) noun (1)

verb

1.

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”
Synonyms
2.

put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to

  • “This approach has been tried with good results”
  • “Test this recipe”
Synonyms
3.

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”
Synonyms
4.

take a sample of

  • “Try these new crackers”
  • “Sample the regional dishes”
Synonyms
5.

examine or hear (evidence or a case) by judicial process

  • “The jury had heard all the evidence”
  • “The case will be tried in California”
Synonyms
6.

give pain or trouble to

  • “I”
7.

test the limits of

  • “You are trying my patience!”
Synonyms
8.

melt (fat, lard, etc.) in order to separate out impurities

  • “try the yak butter”
  • “render fat in a casserole”
Synonyms
9.

put on a garment in order to see whether it fits and looks nice

  • “Try on this sweater to see how it looks”
Synonyms

noun

1.

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”
Synonyms

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 Latin phrase *granum terere ("to tread the corn (in threshing)"; compare Latin trītūra (“rubbing, chafing, friction" also "threshing”)), which has a parallel in the modern French trier le grain (“to sort the grain”). Alternatively, perhaps derived from Vulgar Latin *trīāre, a metathetic alteration...

Phrases

  • captain's try
  • college try
  • don't diet, try it Terms derived from the verb try
  • don't knock it till you've tried it Terms derived from the verb try
  • don't try this at home Terms derived from the verb try
  • don't try to teach grandma how to suck eggs Terms derived from the verb try
  • for lack of trying Terms derived from the verb try
  • give a try
  • good try
  • I like to see you try Terms derived from the verb try
  • I'd like to see someone try Terms derived from the verb try
  • interception try

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.