Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Attempt   /ətˈɛmpt/   Listen
noun
Attempt  n.  A essay, trial, or endeavor; an undertaking; an attack, or an effort to gain a point; esp. an unsuccessful, as contrasted with a successful, effort. "By his blindness maimed for high attempts."
Attempt to commit a crime (Law), such an intentional preparatory act as will apparently result, if not extrinsically hindered, in a crime which it was designed to effect.
Synonyms: Attempt, Endeavor, Effort, Exertion, Trial. These words agree in the idea of calling forth our powers into action. Trial is the generic term; it denotes a putting forth of one's powers with a view to determine what they can accomplish; as, to make trial of one's strength. An attempt is always directed to some definite and specific object; as, "The attempt, and not the deed, confounds us." An endeavor is a continued attempt; as, "His high endeavor and his glad success." Effort is a specific putting forth of strength in order to carry out an attempt. Exertion is the putting forth or active exercise of any faculty or power. "It admits of all degrees of effort and even natural action without effort." See Try.


verb
Attempt  v. t.  (past & past part. attempted; pres. part. attempting)  
1.
To make trial or experiment of; to try; to endeavor to do or perform (some action); to assay; as, to attempt to sing; to attempt a bold flight. "Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night's repose."
2.
To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt. (Obs. or Archaic) "It made the laughter of an afternoon That Vivien should attempt the blameless king."
3.
To try to win, subdue, or overcome; as, one who attempts the virtue of a woman. "Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further: Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute."
4.
To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force; as, to attempt the enemy's camp. "Without attempting his adversary's life."
Synonyms: See Try.


Attempt  v. i.  To make an attempt; with upon. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar




"Attempt" Quotes from Famous Books



... longer slaves; but man is still subordinate to his own work, adores the work of his hands. This stands for him, undertakes to represent him, though, from its partial nature, it can only typify certain aspects or functions of him. A Gothic cathedral is an attempt at a universal expression of humanity, a stone image of society, in which each particle, insignificant by itself, has its meaning in the connection. It was the fresh interest in the attempt that gave birth ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, Number 60, October 1862 • Various
... me to rise my hand to you? I tell you that a single man here won't pay a penny o' reckonin', while I'm to the good; and, to make short work of it, by the contints o' the book, I'll strike the first of ye that'll attempt ...
— Phelim O'toole's Courtship and Other Stories • William Carleton
... the ring off of the finger, might rend the wedding-veil asunder, might tear out the marriage leaf from the family Bible record, but all that would fail to unmarry you. It is better not to make the mistake than to attempt its correction. But men and women do not reveal all their characteristics till after marriage, and how are you to avoid committing the fatal blunder? There is only one Being in the universe who can tell you whom to choose, and that is the Lord of Paradise. He ...
— The Wedding Ring - A Series of Discourses for Husbands and Wives and Those - Contemplating Matrimony • T. De Witt Talmage
... advocates of woman's claims—those who hold that "the virtues of the man and the woman are the same," with Antisthenes, or that "the talent of the man and the woman is the same," with Socrates in Xenophon's "Banquet"—must be cautious lest they attempt to prove too much. Of course, if women know as much as the men, without schools and colleges, there is no need of admitting them to those institutions. If they work as well on half pay, it diminishes the inducement to give ...
— Women and the Alphabet • Thomas Wentworth Higginson
... The poet makes no attempt to give any reason why music should be so ephemeral in its appeal. He merely refers to the development of harmony and modulation, nor does it seem to enter his head that there can be any question ...
— Browning's England - A Study in English Influences in Browning • Helen Archibald Clarke


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com