What does "try" mean?
An attempt.
Try
/tɹaɪ/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An attempt.
- Grammar: try is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: attempt, effort, endeavor, acid test.
- Useful contrasts: abandon, cease, disregard.
- Usage evidence: It's very frustrating to try to find your glasses when you can't see anything without glasses.
How to use "try"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "try" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "try" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "try" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "try" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "try" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "attempt" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "try", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An attempt.
"I gave unicycling a try but I couldn’t do it."
- 2 earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something wordnet
- 3 An act of tasting or sampling.
"I gave sushi a try but I didn’t like it."
- 4 A score in rugby league and rugby union, analogous to a touchdown in American football.
"Today I scored my first try."
- 5 A screen, or sieve, for grain. UK, dialectal, obsolete
"They will not passe thorough the holes of the sieve, ruddle or trie, if they be narrow."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A field goal or extra point
- 7 A move that almost solves a chess problem, except that Black has a unique defense.
- 8 A block of code that may trigger exceptions the programmer expects to catch, usually demarcated by the keyword try.
Verb
- 1 To attempt; to endeavour. Followed by infinitive.
"I tried to rollerblade, but I couldn’t."
- 2 put on a garment in order to see whether it fits and looks nice wordnet
- 3 To divide; to separate.; To separate (precious metal etc.) from the ore by melting; to purify, refine. obsolete
"[…]euery feend his buſie paines applyde, / To melt the golden metall, ready to be tryde."
- 4 melt (fat or lard) in order to separate out impurities wordnet
- 5 To divide; to separate.; To winnow; to sift; to pick out; frequently followed by out. obsolete
"to try out the wild corn from the good"
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 take a sample of wordnet
- 7 To divide; to separate.; To extract oil from blubber or fat; to melt down blubber to obtain oil obsolete
- 8 test the limits of wordnet
- 9 To divide; to separate.; To extract wax from a honeycomb obsolete
- 10 give pain or trouble to wordnet
- 11 To test, to work out.; To make an experiment. Usually followed by a present participle.
"I tried mixing more white paint to get a lighter shade."
- 12 examine or hear (evidence or a case) by judicial process wordnet
- 13 To test, to work out.; To put to test.
"I shall try my skills on this."
- 14 put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of wordnet
- 15 To test, to work out.; To test someone's patience. specifically
"You are trying my patience."
- 16 make an effort or attempt wordnet
- 17 To test, to work out.; To receive an imminent attack; to take. figuratively
"Mona: Try this vampire bolt on for size! Cedric: Why don't you try this alien bolt?"
- 18 put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to wordnet
- 19 To test, to work out.; To taste, sample, etc.
"Oh, you need to try the soup of the day!"
- 20 To test, to work out.; To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test.
"to try weights or measures by a standard; to try a person's opinions"
- 21 To test, to work out.; To attempt to determine (by experiment or effort).
"I'll try whether I can make it across town on foot."
- 22 To test, to work out.; To put on trial.
"He was tried and executed."
- 23 To experiment, to strive.; To have or gain knowledge of by experience.
"[…]try the Lybian Heat, or Scythian Cold."
- 24 To experiment, to strive.; To work on something with one's best effort and focus.
"Dad, for God's sake, I'm trying my best!"
- 25 To experiment, to strive.; To do; to fare. obsolete
"How do you try! (i.e., how do you do?)"
- 26 To experiment, to strive.; To settle; to decide; to determine; specifically, to decide by an appeal to arms.
"to try rival claims by a duel; to try conclusions"
- 27 To experiment, to strive.; To attempt to conceive a child. euphemistic
- 28 To lie to in heavy weather under just sufficient sail to head into the wind.
- 29 To strain; to subject to excessive tests.
"The light tries his eyes."
- 30 To want, to desire. slang
"I am really not trying to hear you talk about my mama like that."
Adjective
- 1 Fine, excellent. obsolete
"But he her ſuppliant hands, thoſe hands of gold, / And eke her feete, thoſe feete of ſiluer trye, […] Chopt off […]."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"It's very frustrating to try to find your glasses when you can't see anything without glasses."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "try"?
Common synonyms include: attempt, effort, endeavor, acid test, adjudicate, afflict.
How do you use "try" in a sentence?
It's very frustrating to try to find your glasses when you can't see anything without glasses.
How do you pronounce "try"?
Pronounced /tɹaɪ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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 of *tīrāre (“to tear off, pull, draw”), whence also Old French tirer (“to draw, pull, pluck, tug, peck at, extract”), Occitan tirar (“to take, draw, retrieve, remove, extract”). Replaced native Middle English cunnen (“to try”) (from Old English cunnian), Middle English fandien (“to try, prove”) (from Old English fandian), and Middle English costnien (“to try, tempt, test”) (from Old English costnian).
Etymology 2
Probably from Old French trié.