Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

trying

[trahy-ing]
See more synonyms for trying on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. extremely annoying, difficult, or the like; straining one's patience and goodwill to the limit: a trying day; a trying experience.
Show More

Origin of trying

1570–80 for general sense; 1710–20 for current sense; try + -ing2
Related formstry·ing·ly, adverbtry·ing·ness, nounun·try·ing, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms for trying on Thesaurus.com
irritating, irksome, bothersome, vexing.

try

[trahy]
verb (used with object), tried, try·ing.
  1. to attempt to do or accomplish: Try it before you say it's simple.
  2. to test the effect or result of (often followed by out): to try a new method; to try a recipe out.
  3. to endeavor to evaluate by experiment or experience: to try a new field; to try a new book.
  4. to test the quality, value, fitness, accuracy, etc., of: Will you try a spoonful of this and tell me what you think of it?
  5. Law. to examine and determine judicially, as a cause; determine judicially the guilt or innocence of (a person).
  6. to put to a severe test; subject to strain, as of endurance, patience, affliction, or trouble; tax: to try one's patience.
  7. to attempt to open (a door, window, etc.) in order to find out whether it is locked: Try all the doors before leaving.
  8. to melt down (fat, blubber, etc.) to obtain the oil; render (usually followed by out).
  9. Archaic.
    1. to determine the truth or right of (a quarrel or question) by test or battle (sometimes followed by out).
    2. to find to be right by test or experience.
Show More
verb (used without object), tried, try·ing.
  1. to make an attempt or effort; strive: Try to complete the examination.
  2. Nautical. to lie to in heavy weather under just sufficient sail to head into the wind.
Show More
noun, plural tries.
  1. an attempt or effort: to have a try at something.
  2. Rugby. a score of three points earned by advancing the ball to or beyond the opponents' goal line.
Show More
Verb Phrases
  1. try on, 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.
  2. try out, to use experimentally; test: to try out a new car.
  3. try out for, to compete for (a position, membership, etc.): Over a hundred boys came to try out for the football team.
Show More
Idioms
  1. give it the old college try, Informal. to make a sincere effort: I gave it the old college try and finally found an apartment.
  2. try it/that on, Chiefly British Informal.
    1. to put on airs: She's been trying it on ever since the inheritance came through.
    2. to be forward or presumptuous, especially with a member of the opposite sex: She avoided him after he'd tried it on with her.
Show More

Origin of try

1250–1300; Middle English trien to try (a legal case) < Anglo-French trier, Old French: to sift, cull, of uncertain origin
Related formspre·try, verb (used with object), pre·tried, pre·try·ing.re·try, verb, re·tried, re·try·ing.

Synonyms

See more synonyms for try on Thesaurus.com
1, 10. Try, attempt, endeavor, strive all mean to put forth an effort toward a specific end. Try is the most often used and most general term: to try to decipher a message; to try hard to succeed. Attempt, often interchangeable with try, sometimes suggests the possibility of failure and is often used in reference to more serious or important matters: to attempt to formulate a new theory of motion. Endeavor emphasizes serious and continued exertion of effort, sometimes aimed at dutiful or socially appropriate behavior: to endeavor to fulfill one's obligations. Strive, stresses persistent, vigorous, even strenuous effort, often in the face of obstacles: to strive to overcome a handicap.

Usage note

10. Try followed by and instead of to has been in standard use since the 17th century: The Justice Department has decided to try and regulate jury-selection practices. The construction occurs only with the base form try, not with tries or tried or trying. Although some believe that try and is less formal than try to, both patterns occur in all types of speech and writing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for trying

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • What a glorious double stroke it would be, after all their years of trying.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • "Another tribe is trying to break into our land," he said to himself.

    Ancient Man

    Hendrik Willem van Loon

  • The gentlemen were smoking, and some of the ladies were trying to look at ease with cigarettes.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • She was trying to extort a promise that she should appear in its pages, which, as we all remember, she did.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • But I tell you, I am trying to find out what the matter is that you need my help in.

British Dictionary definitions for trying

trying

adjective
  1. upsetting, difficult, or annoyinga trying day at the office
Show More
Derived Formstryingly, adverbtryingness, noun

try

verb tries, trying or tried
  1. (when tr, may take an infinitive, sometimes with to replaced by and) to make an effort or attempthe tried to climb a cliff
  2. (tr often foll by out) to sample, test, or give experimental use to (something) in order to determine its quality, worth, etctry her cheese flan
  3. (tr) to put strain or stress onhe tries my patience
  4. (tr; often passive) to give pain, affliction, or vexation to: I have been sorely tried by those children
    1. to examine and determine the issues involved in (a cause) in a court of law
    2. to hear evidence in order to determine the guilt or innocence of (an accused)
    3. to sit as judge at the trial of (an issue or person)
  6. (tr) to melt (fat, lard, etc) in order to separate out impurities
  7. (tr usually foll by out) obsolete to extract (a material) from an ore, mixture, etc, usually by heat; refine
Show More
noun plural tries
  1. an experiment or trial
  2. an attempt or effort
  3. 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
  4. Also called: try 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
Show More
See also try on, try out

Word Origin

C13: from Old French trier to sort, sift, of uncertain origin

usage

The use of and instead of to after try is very common, but should be avoided in formal writing: we must try to prevent (not try and prevent) this happening
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for trying

try

v.

c.1300, "examine judiciously, sit in judgment of," from Anglo-French trier (late 13c.), from Old French trier "to pick out, cull" (12c.), from Gallo-Romance *triare, of unknown origin. The ground sense is "separate out (the good) by examination." Meaning "to test" is first recorded mid-14c.; that of "attempt to do" is from early 14c. Sense of "to subject to some strain" (of patience, endurance, etc.) is recorded from 1530s. Trying "distressing" is first attested 1718. To try (something) on for size in the figurative sense is recorded from 1956.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
trying in Medicine

Try

abbr.
  1. tryptophan
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Idioms and Phrases with trying

try

In addition to the idioms beginning with try

  • try on
  • try one's hand
  • try one's patience
  • try out

also see:

  • old college try

Also see undertried.

Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.