attempt

American  

[uh-tempt] / əˈtɛmpt /

verb (used with object)

• attempts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• attempted,
  past participle,  past
• attempting
  present participle

1. to make an effort at; try; undertake; seek.

   to attempt an impossible task; to attempt to walk six miles.

2. Archaic. to attack; move against in a hostile manner.

   to attempt a person's life.

3. Archaic. to tempt.

---

noun

• attempts
  plural

1. an effort made to accomplish something.

   He made an attempt to swim across the lake.

   Synonyms:

   endeavor, try

2. an attack or assault.

   an attempt upon the leader's life.

attempt British  

/ əˈtɛmpt /

verb

1. to make an effort (to do something) or to achieve (something); try

2. to try to surmount (an obstacle)

3. to try to climb

   they will attempt the north wall of the Eiger

4. archaic to attack

5. archaic to tempt

---

noun

1. an endeavour to achieve something; effort

2. a result of an attempt or endeavour

3. an attack, esp with the intention to kill

   an attempt on his life

Usage

What does attempt mean? An attempt is an effort made to complete a task, as in My attempt to go to the concert failed when my car broke down. To attempt means to try to complete a task, as in When Riddhi attempted to run to better her health, she found that she really enjoyed it too. When you attempt something, you are making some kind of effort, whether or not you succeed. To attempt is to try. Example: Louise attempted to make bread, but she forgot to add yeast to the recipe.

Synonym Usage

See try.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• attemptability
  noun
• attempter
  noun
• quasi-attempt
  verb
• reattempt
  verb (used with object)
• attemptable
  adjective
• unattemptable
  adjective
• unattempted
  adjective
• unattempting
  adjective
• well-attempted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• attempts
  plural

Participles

• attempting
  present
• attempted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• attempt
  simple
• attempts
  simple
• have attempted
  perfect
• has attempted
  perfect
• am attempting
  progressive
• are attempting
  progressive
• is attempting
  progressive
• have been attempting
  perfect progressive
• has been attempting
  perfect progressive

Past

• attempted
  simple
• had attempted
  perfect
• was attempting
  progressive
• were attempting
  progressive
• had been attempting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will attempt
  simple
• will have attempted
  perfect
• will be attempting
  progressive
• will have been attempting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of attempt

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English from Anglo-French atempter from Latin attemptāre “to test, tamper with.” See at-, tempt

Explanation

To attempt is to make an effort. You may attempt to read a book, but if you fail, no harm. If you attempt to jump from one building to the next and fail . . . . Ouch. The word attempt can also be used as a noun. It's an honest effort to do something. Your attempt to bake a birthday cake may look like a disaster, but the birthday boy will appreciate the effort anyway. The noun attempt can also mean an attack on a person or place, but in this case, it's best to hope that the attempt is not on your life. And never, ever attempt that sort of thing at home!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

attempt attempts attempted attempting

Carter had vehemently denied the accusations, saying they were a "blackmail attempt" and describing them as "frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations".

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

“Do not attempt to cross flooded roads. Find an alternate route.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Circuit examined the claimed emergency, the statutory text, and the history of the provision and rejected the DOE’s attempt to turn a temporary emergency tool into a mechanism for long-term electricity planning.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2026

The point of the date is to get to know the person better, not to attempt to impress them with how much you can afford to spend.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

Not long after her twenty-first birthday, she started seeing mystics, conjurers, and Voodoo priests, all in an attempt to magnify her vision.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

They also rejected Norris' lawyers' attempts to go to the Supreme Court.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

Chaos reigns in “Your Mother,” and not just with Latif’s fraught attempts to secure breast milk, which are portrayed as either comedic or dramatic depending on the scene.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

As Rodríguez met with U.S. officials in New York, opposition leader María Corina Machado made three unsuccessful attempts to return to Venezuela by plane and sea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Friends of Slate Richard L. Revesz and Sarah Wheaton explain in Slate how a proposed regulation attempts to stop collecting race and ethnicity data, which could have wide-ranging implications for public health.

From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2026

Her first attempts at a really long strand had come apart, but she was getting the hang of it.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

OpenAI agents attempted to get information from "governments, universities, public agencies, and other institutions" through sometimes extreme means, the company said.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

One Chinese company that attempted to sell chemical materials, Haokun Energy, told a U.S.-sanctioned importer of products for Iran last December that exports of sodium perchlorate required government licenses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were "deliberate, precise, calibrated, and proportionate, and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan".

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

The pilot attempted to restart the engine multiple times, with no success.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

He lay down in a remaining bed, and everyone attempted to settle.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

While these intuitions are attempting to insert women into the male-dominated picture of the Viking age, descriptions of women’s lives and their social or cultural influence tend to be limited.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

Asalanka and Mendis were pinned attempting sweeps and Dunith Wellalage, who hit two sixes in a 36-ball 45 at number seven, was tempted to sky a catch to mid-on.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

I argued that attempting to police outsiders would be too cumbersome and that we don’t yet know enough about AI to make sensible uniform rules governing its use.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

These were actors who may have earlier been needling at or attempting to push my boundaries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

“It’s amazing how much freedom your parents give you,” I pant hurriedly, attempting and failing to return the one-handed signs.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Related Words

• attack
• bid
• endeavor
• experiment
• pursuit
• shot
• struggle
• try