trying

English

Etymology

try +‎ -ing

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɹaɪ.ɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪɪŋ

Adjective

trying (comparative more trying, superlative most trying)

1. Difficult to endure; arduous.
   • , A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “”, in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, London: George Newnes, […], published 1892 October 14, →OCLC, , Case of Identity/mode/1up page A Case of Identity:

     59

   • 1969, Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson (lyrics and music), “Tryin’ Times”, in First Take, performed by Roberta Flack:

     Tryin’ times, what the world is talkin’ about / You got confusion all over the land, yeah

2. Irritating, stressful or bothersome.

Translations

Difficult to endure; arduous

• Bulgarian: мъчителен (bg) (mǎčitelen), уморителен (bg) (umoritelen)
• Finnish: rasittava (fi), raskas (fi)
• French: éprouvant (fr) m
• Italian: difficile (it), impegnativo (it) m, arduo (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: desafiador, arduo (es), riguroso (es)
• Swedish: ansträngande (sv), påfrestande (sv), krävande (sv)

irritating, stressful or bothersome

• Bulgarian: притеснителен (bg) (pritesnitelen)
• Finnish: rasittava (fi), raskas (fi), vaivalloinen (fi)
• Italian: irritante (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: hostigoso (es), irritante (es), molestoso

Verb

trying

1. present participle of try

Noun

trying (plural tryings)

1. (philosophy) The act by which one tries something; an attempt.
   • 2006, Andrew Sneddon, Action and Responsibility, page 145:

     In a variety of places, O'Shaughnessy argues that there is an internal relation between trying and the events that tryings produce. For example, he argues that tryings are not independently specifiable except as would-be causes of physical events.

   • 2021, William Guss, gilwus‎^[1]:

     When I write with others, the pauses and manyfold attempts to get at an idea mirror the cadence of a conversation or the tryings of finding a word that evades the tongue. That searching is such a beautiful thing.

Anagrams

• tyring