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Webster 1913 Edition


Attempt

At-tempt′

(?; 215)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Attempted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Attempting
.]
[OF.
atenter
, also spelt
atempter
, F.
attenter
, fr. L.
attentare
to attempt;
ad
+
tentare
,
temptare
, to touch, try, v. intens. of
tendere
to stretch. See
Tempt
, and cf.
Attend
.]
1.
To make trial or experiment of; to try; to endeavor to do or perform (some action); to assay;
as, to
attempt
to sing; to
attempt
a bold flight.
Something
attempted
, something done,
Has earned a night’s repose.
Longfellow.
2.
To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt.
[Obs. or Archaic]
It made the laughter of an afternoon
That Vivien should
attempt
the blameless king.
Thackeray.
3.
To try to win, subdue, or overcome;
as, one who
attempts
the virtue of a woman
.
Dear sir, of force I must
attempt
you further:
Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute.
Shakespeare
4.
To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force;
as, to
attempt
the enemy's camp
.
Without
attempting
his adversary's life.
Motley.
Syn. – See
Try
.

At-tempt′

,
Verb.
I.
To make an attempt; – with upon.
[Obs.]
Sir T. Browne.

At-tempt′

,
Noun.
A essay, trial, or endeavor; an undertaking; an attack, or an effort to gain a point; esp. an unsuccessful, as contrasted with a successful, effort.
By his blindness maimed for high
attempts
.
Milton.
Attempt to commit a crime
(Law)
,
such an intentional preparatory act as will apparently result, if not extrinsically hindered, in a crime which it was designed to effect.
Wharton.
.
These words agree in the idea of calling forth our powers into action. Trial is the generic term; it denotes a putting forth of one's powers with a view to determine what they can accomplish;
as, to make
trial
of one's strength
. An attempt is always directed to some definite and specific object;
as, “The
attempt
, and not the deed, confounds us
.”
Shak.
An endeavor is a continued attempt;
as, “His high
endeavor
and his glad success
.”
Cowper.
Effort is a specific putting forth of strength in order to carry out an attempt. Exertion is the putting forth or active exercise of any faculty or power. “It admits of all degrees of effort and even natural action without effort.”
C. J. Smith.
See
Try
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Attempt

ATTEMPT'

,
Verb.
T.
[L. attento, to attempt, of ad and tento, to try; tento is from the same root as tendo, to strain; Gr. Hence, the literal sense is to strain, urge, stretch.]
1.
To make an effort to effect some object; to make trial or experiment; to try; to endeavor; to use exertion for any purpose; as, to attempt to sing; to attempt a bold flight.
2.
To attack; to make an effort upon; as, to attempt the enemy's camp.
This verb is not always followed by an object, and appears to be intransitive; but some object is understood, or a verb in the infinitive follows in the place of an object; as, he attempted to speak.

ATTEMPT'

,
Noun.
An essay, trial or endeavor; an attack; or an effort to gain a point.

Definition 2024


attempt

attempt

English

Verb

attempt (third-person singular simple present attempts, present participle attempting, simple past and past participle attempted)

  1. To try.
    I attempted to sing, but my throat was too hoarse.
    to attempt an escape from prison
    A group of 80 budding mountaineers attempted Kilimanjaro, but 30 of them didn't make it to the top.
    • Longfellow
      Something attempted, something done, / Has earned a night's repose.
    • 2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
      Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.
  2. (obsolete) To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt.
    • Thackeray
      It made the laughter of an afternoon / That Vivien should attempt the blameless king.
  3. (archaic) To try to win, subdue, or overcome.
    one who attempts the virtue of a woman
    • Shakespeare
      Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further: / Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute.
  4. (archaic) To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force.
    to attempt the enemy's camp
    • Motley
      without attempting his adversary's life

Usage notes

  • This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

Translations

Noun

attempt (plural attempts)

  1. The action of trying at something. [1530]
    We made an attempt to cross the stream, but didn't manage.
    This poem is much better than the feeble attempt of mine.
    It was worth the attempt.
    • 2012 March 1, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87:
      But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea
  2. An assault or attack, especially an assassination attempt. [1580]
    • 1584 No man can charge us of any attempt against the realm. (Allen's Defence Of English Catholics, cited after Edinburgh review 1883, p. 378)

Usage notes

  • Adjectives often applied to "attempt": first, failed, desperate, last, half-hearted, unsuccessful, serious, successful, feeble, new, honest, vain, sincere, ambitious, earnest, clumsy, direct, hard, brilliant, official, useless, clever, sophisticated, amateurish.

Synonyms

Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: drawn · field · street · #829: attempt · soft · officers · likely