English Explanatory Dictionary

try

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To attempt; to endeavour. Followed by infinitive.
  2. To divide; to separate.
  3. To separate (precious metal etc.) from the ore by melting; to purify, refine.
  4. To winnow; to sift; to pick out; frequently followed by out.
  5. To extract oil from blubber or fat; to melt down blubber to obtain oil
  6. To extract wax from a honeycomb
  7. To test, to work out.
  8. To make an experiment. Usually followed by a present participle.
  9. To put to test.
  10. To test someone's patience.
  11. To receive an imminent attack; to take.
  12. To taste, sample, etc.
noun
  1. An attempt.
  2. An act of tasting or sampling.
  3. A score in rugby league and rugby union, analogous to a touchdown in American football.
  4. A screen, or sieve, for grain.
  5. A field goal or extra point
  6. A move that almost solves a chess problem, except that Black has a unique defense.
  7. A block of code that may trigger exceptions the programmer expects to catch, usually demarcated by the keyword try.
adj
  1. Fine, excellent.

Pronunciation

trī /tɹaɪ/ [t͡ʃɹaɪ̯] [tɹ̝̊aɪ̯] [t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔aɪ̯] [t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷaɪ̯] /tɹʌɪ/ [tɹəi̯] En-uk-to try.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-try.wav en-us-try.ogg

Word forms

try tries trying tried no-table-tags glossary triest triedst trieth trie more try most try

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).

Synonyms

strive put keep etc. one's nose to the grindstone put one's back into give 110% break one's back work hard apply oneself attempt endeavor fand mint take a run at take a stab at sample taste doom judge adjudge adjudicate arbitrate deem hear rule on settle try extra point bash go stab whirl sampling tasting touchdown

Related words

trial tried and tested tried and true trier

Derived words

don't diet, try it don't knock it till you've tried it don't try this at home don't try to teach grandma how to suck eggs for lack of trying I'd like to see someone try I like to see you try must-try right to try try as one may try as one might try conclusions try for size try-hard trying try it on try it on the dog try me try-miter square tryna try-off try on try-on try one's hand try one's luck try one's wings try out try-out try-outs try pot try someone's patience try square try-square try the veal try titles trywork captain's try college try give a try good try interception try nice try old college try penalty try Terms derived from the noun try try cock try-scorer
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on T Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary