Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word try. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word try, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say try in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word try you have here. The definition of the word try will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition oftry, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.
[Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes.
The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.
Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.
1987, Hadi Khorsandi, “It Didn’t Quite Work Out—2”, in Ehssan Javan, transl., The Ayatollah and I:
I sit in front of the mirror and try myself. I am no impartial judge, otherwise I would have had myself executed several times over by now.
2017 August 27, Brandon Nowalk, “Game Of Thrones slows down for the longest, and best, episode of the season (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:
Sansa pretends to gather everyone in the great hall to try Arya, and at the last moment reveals she’s actually trying Littlefinger for murder and treason, although I think everyone in that room already knew what was going on except him.
To experiment, to strive.
To have or gain knowledge of by experience.
1697, Virgil, “The First Pastoral. Or, Tityrus and Melibœus.”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis., London: Jacob Tonson,, →OCLC, page 4, line 88:
[…]try the Lybian Heat, or Scythian Cold.
1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost., London: [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker; nd by Robert Boulter; nd Matthias Walker,, →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books:, London: Basil Montagu Pickering, 1873, →OCLC:
Never more Mean I to trie what rash untri'd I sought, The paine of absence from thy sight.
I am really not trying to hear you talk about my mama like that.
Usage notes
(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.
I'm going to try to distract him.
I'm going to try and distract him.
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).
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.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
There was the day also when his favourite right uppercut had connected in most accurate and rhythmical fashion with the protruded chin of Bull Wardell of Whitechapel, whereby Silas put himself in the way of a Lonsdale Belt and a try for the championship.
2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport:
But two penalties and a drop-goal from Jonny Wilkinson, despite a host of other wayward attempts, plus a late try from Chris Ashton were enough to send a misfiring England through.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.