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Definitions
- 1 Fine, excellent. obsolete
"But he her ſuppliant hands, thoſe hands of gold, / And eke her feete, thoſe feete of ſiluer trye, […] Chopt off […]."
- 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."
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- 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.
- 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."
Etymology
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).
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).
Probably from Old French trié.
See also for "try"
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