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try
[ trahy ]
verb (used with object)
- to attempt to do or accomplish:
Try it before you say it's simple.
- to test the effect or result of (often followed by out ):
to try a new method; to try a recipe out.
- to endeavor to evaluate by experiment or experience:
to try a new field; to try a new book.
- to test the quality, value, fitness, accuracy, etc., of:
Will you try a spoonful of this and tell me what you think of it?
- Law. to examine and determine judicially, as a cause; determine judicially the guilt or innocence of (a person).
- to put to a severe test; subject to strain, as of endurance, patience, affliction, or trouble; tax:
to try one's patience.
- to attempt to open (a door, window, etc.) in order to find out whether it is locked:
Try all the doors before leaving.
- to melt down (fat, blubber, etc.) to obtain the oil; render (usually followed by out ).
- Archaic.
- to determine the truth or right of (a quarrel or question) by test or battle (sometimes followed by out ).
- to find to be right by test or experience.
verb (used without object)
- to make an attempt or effort; strive:
Try to complete the examination.
- Nautical. to lie to in heavy weather under just sufficient sail to head into the wind.
noun
- an attempt or effort:
to have a try at something.
- Rugby. a score of three points earned by advancing the ball to or beyond the opponents' goal line.
verb phrase
- to put on an article of clothing in order to judge its appearance and fit:
You can't really tell how it will look until you try it on.
- to compete for (a position, membership, etc.):
Over a hundred boys came to try out for the football team.
- to use experimentally; test:
to try out a new car.
try
/ traɪ /
verb
- whentr, may take an infinitive, sometimes with to replaced by and to make an effort or attempt
he tried to climb a cliff
- troften foll byout to sample, test, or give experimental use to (something) in order to determine its quality, worth, etc
try her cheese flan
- tr to put strain or stress on
he tries my patience
- tr; often passive to give pain, affliction, or vexation to: I have been sorely tried by those children
- to examine and determine the issues involved in (a cause) in a court of law
- to hear evidence in order to determine the guilt or innocence of (an accused)
- to sit as judge at the trial of (an issue or person)
- tr to melt (fat, lard, etc) in order to separate out impurities
- obsolete.trusually foll byout to extract (a material) from an ore, mixture, etc, usually by heat; refine
noun
- an experiment or trial
- an attempt or effort
- rugby the act of an attacking player touching the ball down behind the opposing team's goal line, scoring five or, in Rugby League, four points
- Also calledtry for a point American football an attempt made after a touchdown to score an extra point by kicking a goal or, for two extra points, by running the ball or completing a pass across the opponents' goal line
Usage Note
Usage
Other Words From
- pre·try verb (used with object) pretried pretrying
- re·try verb retried retrying
Word History and Origins
Origin of try1
Word History and Origins
Origin of try1
Idioms and Phrases
- give it the old college try, Informal. to make a sincere effort:
I gave it the old college try and finally found an apartment.
- try it / that on, Chiefly British Informal.
- to put on airs:
She's been trying it on ever since the inheritance came through.
- to be forward or presumptuous, especially with a potential romantic partner:
She avoided him after he'd tried it on with her.
More idioms and phrases containing try
- old college try
- tried
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
Whatever the FBI says, the truthers will create alternative hypotheses that try to challenge the ‘official story.’
We try to avoid going away for too long, so we can check back in.
They were just way too aggressive to try and maintain on a farm here,” says Gow of his “Nazi cows.
“You try to always scratch where the itch is,” Huckabee said about his campaigning and rhetoric in the 2008 primary.
Their first attempt to unseat the House speaker failed miserably, so why not try again?
He shall pass into strange countries: for he shall try good and evil among men.
Given one more Division we might try: as things are, my troops won't cover the mileage.
These hills, if we have to mount them, shall sorely try the thews of horse and man.
Never grasp a Fern plant from above and try to pull it away, as this will be almost sure to result in damage.
But they soon fell out, for Murat had the audacity to try and make these patriots fight instead of merely seeking plunder.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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