try
enPR: trī, IPA(key): /tɹaɪ/, [t͡ʃɹaɪ̯], [tɹ̝̊aɪ̯], [t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔aɪ̯], [t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷaɪ̯]
Rhymes: -aɪ
From Middle English trien (“to try a legal case”), from Anglo-Norman trier (“to try a case”), Old French trier (“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin. It is probably related to Italian tritare (“to grind; to sort; to analyze”) (see also French trier). Alternatively, believed to be a metathetic variation of Old French tirer (“to pull out, snatch”), from Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (tiran, “to tear away, remove”), from Proto-Germanic *teraną (“to tear, tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, tear apart”), see tear. Related to Occitan triar (“to pick out, choose from among others”), although the Occitan verb could also be a borrowing from French. Alternatively or by confluence, the Old French is from Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin *triare, of unknown origin.
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).
trie (obsolete)
try (third-person singular simple present tries, present participle trying, simple past and past participle tried)
To attempt; to endeavour. Followed by infinitive.
(obsolete) To divide; to separate.
To separate (precious metal etc.) from the ore by melting; to purify, refine.
(one sort from another) To winnow; to sift; to pick out; frequently followed by out.
(nautical) To extract oil from blubber or fat; to melt down blubber to obtain oil
To extract wax from a honeycomb
To test, to work out.
To make an experiment. Usually followed by a present participle.
To put to test.
(specifically) To test someone's patience.
(figuratively, chiefly used in the imperative) To receive an imminent attack; to take.
1999, Mona the Vampire, "The X-Change Student" (season 1, episode 6a):
Mona: Try this vampire bolt on for size!
Cedric: Why don't you try this alien bolt?
To taste, sample, etc.
To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test.
(with indirect interrogative clause) To attempt to determine (by experiment or effort).
(law) To put on trial.
To experiment, to strive.
To have or gain knowledge of by experience.
To work on something with one's best effort and focus.
(obsolete) To do; to fare.
To settle; to decide; to determine; specifically, to decide by an appeal to arms.
(euphemistic, of a couple) To attempt to conceive a child.
(nautical) To lie to in heavy weather under just sufficient sail to head into the wind.
To strain; to subject to excessive tests.
(slang, chiefly African-American Vernacular, used with another verb) To want, to desire.
(to attempt): This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. Conjugations unmarked for tense can take and instead of to, for which also see Citations:try.
And still requires that the two verbs be in the same mood, as and normally does, but the second verb must still be in the bare form as it is after to. For this reason, and can only be used where both try and the subsequent verb are in the unmarked form. Accordingly, He will try and explain, I try and explain, and the imperative Try and explain occur, but not *He tries and explain/explains, *He tried and explain/explained, or *He is trying and explain/explaining. In the latter contexts, only to will be used: He tried to explain. Because try and is often prescriptively deprecated, it is best avoided in formal writing (aiming for the audience's approval), but descriptively it is a fact that try and is an idiomatic form.
(to make an experiment): This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing).
See Appendix:English catenative verbs
In older forms of English, when the pronoun thou was in active use, and verbs used -est for distinct second-person singular indicative forms, the verb try had the form triest, and had triedst for its past tense.
Similarly, when the ending -eth was in active use for third-person singular present indicative forms, the form trieth was used.
(to attempt): attempt, endeavor, fand, mint, take a run at, take a stab at
(to strive): 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
(to taste, sample, etc): sample, taste
try (plural tries)
An attempt.
An act of tasting or sampling.
(rugby) A score in rugby league and rugby union, analogous to a touchdown in American football.
(UK, dialect, obsolete) A screen, or sieve, for grain.
(American football) A field goal or extra point
(chess) A move that almost solves a chess problem, except that Black has a unique defense.
(an attempt): bash, go, stab, whirl
(an act of tasting or sampling): sampling, taste, tasting
(a score in rugby): touchdown (American football)
(the point after touchdown): extra point (American football)
Probably from Old French trié.
try (comparative more try, superlative most try)
(obsolete) Fine, excellent.
Tyr
(Standard Written Form) trei
(Standard Written Form) tri
From Proto-Brythonic *tri, from Proto-Celtic *trīs, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.
try
(Standard Cornish) three
teyr
(cardinal number): Previous: dew. Next: peswar
try m (plural tries)
try (a score in rugby)
Synonym: ensaio
(programming) try (block of code that may trigger exceptions)
(North Wales) IPA(key): /trɨː/
(South Wales) IPA(key): /triː/
try
third-person singular present indicative/future of troi