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 ” ) [ 1] (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 ).
try (third-person singular simple present tries , present participle trying , simple past and past participle tried )
To attempt ; to endeavour . Followed by infinitive.
I tried to rollerblade, but I couldn’t.
I'll come to dinner soon. I'm trying to beat this level first.
1918 , W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell , chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp , Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company , →OCLC , page 361 :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.
2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain ”, in The Economist , volume 411 , number 8892 :[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.
( 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 .
to try out the wild corn from the good
1531 , Thomas Elyot , edited by Ernest Rhys , The Boke Named the Governour [ … ] (Everyman’s Library ), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co ; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co , published [ 1907] , →OCLC :the wylde corne, beinge in shap and greatnesse lyke to the good, if they be mengled, with great difficultie will be tried 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.
I tried mixing more white paint to get a lighter shade.
To put to test.
I shall try my skills on this.
1897 December (indicated as 1898 ), Winston Churchill , chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode , New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company ; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. , →OCLC , page 58 :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.
1922 , E. F. Benson , Miss Mapp , p. 89 :“So mousie shall only find tins on the floor now,” thought Miss Mapp. “Mousie shall try his teeth on tins.”
2013 May-June, David Van Tassel , Lee DeHaan , “Wild Plants to the Rescue ”, in American Scientist , volume 101 , number 3: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.
( specifically ) To test someone's patience .
You are trying my patience.
Don't try me.
( 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.
1986 January 22, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):Calvin: What's this disgusting slimy blob?Dad: Try it. You'll love it.
Oh, you need to try the soup of the day!
To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test.
to try weights or measures by a standard; to try a person's opinions
c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, [ … ] ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act II, scene ii] , page 80 , column 2:Let the end try the man.
( with indirect interrogative clause ) To attempt to determine (by experiment or effort).
I'll try whether I can make it across town on foot.
1785 , James Ridgway, A Dictionary of Literary Conversation [1] :Sir, the doctors and apothecaries are the greatest thieves in the world; they are always trying which can rob their patients the most.
( law ) To put on trial .
1900 , Charles W[addell] Chesnutt , chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars , Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company [ … ] , →OCLC :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 [2] :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 [ … ] ; [ a] nd by Robert Boulter [ … ] ; [ a] 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.
To work on something with one's best effort and focus .
You are trying too hard.
( obsolete ) To do; to fare.
How do you try ! (i.e., how do you do?)
To settle; to decide; to determine; specifically, to decide by an appeal to arms.
to try rival claims by a duel; to try conclusions
1591 (date written), William Shakespeare , “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, [ … ] ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act II, scene iii] , page 128 , column 2:[ …] Left I the Court, to ſee this Quarrell try’de .
( 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.
The light tries his eyes.
Repeated failures try one's patience.
( slang , chiefly African-American Vernacular , used with another verb) To want , to desire .
I am really not trying to hear you talk about my mama like that.
( 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) .
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
Terms etymologically related to the verb try
to attempt
American Sign Language: T@NearInsideChesthigh-PalmAcross-T@NearInsideChesthigh-PalmAcross T@InsideChesthigh-PalmDown-T@InsideChesthigh-PalmDown
Arabic: حَاوَلَ (ar) ( ḥāwala )
Egyptian Arabic: حَاوِل ( ḥāwil )
Hijazi Arabic: حاول ( ḥāwal ) , جَرَّب ( jarrab )
South Levantine Arabic: حاول ( ḥāwal ) , جَرَّب ( járrab )
Armenian: փորձել (hy) ( pʻorjel )
Assamese: চেষ্টা কৰা ( sesta kora )
Azerbaijani: cəhd etmək
Belarusian: спрабава́ць impf ( sprabavácʹ ) , паспрабава́ць pf ( pasprabavácʹ ) ; стара́цца ( starácca ) , пастара́цца ( pastarácca )
Belizean Creole: chrai
Bengali: চেষ্টা করা (bn) ( ceśṭa kora )
Bulgarian: постаравам се ( postaravam se ) , пробвам (bg) ( probvam ) , опитвам (bg) ( opitvam )
Catalan: intentar (ca) , tractar de
Cebuano: sulay
Cherokee: ᎠᏁᏟᏗᎭ ( anetlidiha )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 嘗試 / 尝试 (zh) ( chángshì ) , 企圖 / 企图 (zh) ( qǐtú ) , 試 / 试 (zh) ( shì )
Czech: zkoušet (cs) impf , zkusit (cs) pf ; pokoušet se impf , pokusit se (cs) pf
Danish: forsøge (da) , prøve (da)
Dutch: proberen (nl) , ( formally ) trachten (nl) , pogen (nl)
Esperanto: provi
Estonian: proovima (et) , üritama
Faroese: royna
Finnish: yrittää (fi) , koettaa (fi) , koittaa (fi) ( colloquial )
French: essayer (fr) , tâcher (fr) , tenter (fr)
Friulian: tentâ , provâ
Galician: tentar (gl)
Georgian: სინჯვა ( sinǯva ) , ცდა ( cda )
German: versuchen (de)
Greek: δοκιμάζω (el) ( dokimázo ) , προσπαθώ (el) ( prospathó )
Ancient: πειράομαι ( peiráomai ) , ζητέω ( zētéō )
Hebrew: השתדל (he) ( hishtadél ) , ניסה ( nisá )
Higaonon: sulay
Hindi: कोशिश करना ( kośiś karnā )
Hungarian: próbál (hu) , megpróbál (hu) , próbálkozik (hu) , megpróbálkozik (hu) , megkísérel (hu)
Icelandic: reyna (is)
Ido: esforcar (io)
Indonesian: mencoba (id)
Ingrian: proovata , yrittää , pruukata
Italian: cercare (it) , tentare (it) , provare (it)
Japanese: 挑戦する ( chōsen suru ) , 努める (ja) ( つとめる, tsutomeru ) , 試す (ja) ( ためす, tamesu ) , やってみる ( yatte miru ) , みる (ja) ( miru )
Kituba: meka , kumeka
Korean: 시도하다 (ko) ( sidohada ) , 시험하다 (ko) ( siheomhada ) , 노력하다 (ko) ( noryeokhada ) , 보다 (ko) ( boda )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ھەوڵ دان ( hewll dan )
Latgalian: raudzeit , paraudzeit
Latin: cōnor (la) , aggredior (la)
Latvian: mēģināt
Lingala: meka
Lithuanian: pabandyti (lt)
Macedonian: опитува ( opituva ) , проба ( proba ) , обидува ( obiduva ) , искушува ( iskušuva )
Malay: cuba (ms)
Malayalam: ശ്രമിക്കുക (ml) ( śramikkuka )
Maore Comorian: udjereɓu
Mongolian: үзэх (mn) ( üzex )
Nepali: खोज्नु ( khojnu )
Ngazidja Comorian: ulauza , usana
Norman: tenter , tâchi
Norwegian: prøve (no) , forsøke
Occitan: assajar (oc) , ensajar (oc)
Old English: onġinnan
Oromo: yaaluu
Papiamentu: purba
Persian: کوشیدن (fa) ( kušidan )
Polish: próbować (pl) , starać się (pl)
Portuguese: tentar (pt)
Romanian: încerca (ro) , proba (ro)
Romansch: empruvar , pruar , pruver , provar
Russian: пыта́ться (ru) impf ( pytátʹsja ) , попыта́ться (ru) pf ( popytátʹsja ) , про́бовать (ru) impf ( próbovatʹ ) , попро́бовать (ru) pf ( popróbovatʹ ) , стара́ться (ru) impf ( starátʹsja ) , постараться (ru) pf ( postaratʹsja )
Scottish Gaelic: feuch
Serbo-Croatian: pokušati (sh) , покушати pf
Slovak: pokúšať sa impf , pokúsiť sa pf
Slovene: poskušati impf , poskusiti pf
Sorbian:
Upper Sorbian: spytać
Spanish: intentar (es) , tratar (es)
Swahili: kujaribu (sw)
Swazi: etama
Swedish: försöka (sv) , pröva (sv) , prova (sv)
Thai: พยายาม (th) ( pá-yaa-yaam )
Turkish: denemek (tr) , teşebbüs etmek (tr) , çalışmak (tr)
Ukrainian: про́бувати ( próbuvaty ) , стара́тися ( starátysja ) , намага́тися ( namahátysja )
Venetan: tantar , çercar (vec) , sercar (vec) , ẑercar (vec)
Vietnamese: cố gắng (vi) , gắng (vi)
Volapük: steifülön (vo)
Walloon: sayî (wa)
Welsh: ceisio (cy)
Xhosa: zama
Yiddish: פּרוּוון (yi) ( pruvn ) , פּרובירן ( prubirn )
Zulu: zama
to make an experiment
American Sign Language: T@NearInsideChesthigh-PalmAcross-T@NearInsideChesthigh-PalmAcross T@InsideChesthigh-PalmDown-T@InsideChesthigh-PalmDown
Armenian: փորձել (hy) ( pʻorjel )
Bulgarian: пробвам (bg) ( probvam ) , експериментирам ( eksperimentiram )
Catalan: intentar (ca) , provar (ca) , tractar de
Chinese:
Mandarin: 試驗 / 试验 (zh) ( shìyàn )
Danish: forsøge (da) , prøve (da)
Dutch: proberen (nl) , uitproberen (nl)
Esperanto: testi , provi
Finnish: kokeilla (fi) , yrittää (fi)
French: essayer (fr) , tâcher (fr) , tenter (fr)
German: versuchen (de) , probieren (de) , experimentieren (de) , testen (de)
Greek: πειραματίζομαι (el) ( peiramatízomai )
Hungarian: próbaképpen ( adverb, used with the verb of the action )
Italian: provare (it)
Japanese: 試みる (ja) ( kokoromiru )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ئیش لەسەرکردن ( îş leserkirdin )
Latin: experior
Malayalam: ശ്രമിക്കുക (ml) ( śramikkuka ) , നോക്കുക (ml) ( nōkkuka )
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: турших (mn) ( turšix )
Mongolian: ᠲᠤᠷᠰᠢᠬᠤ ( tursiqu )
Norman: tenter , tâchi
Persian: کوشیدن (fa) ( kušidan ) , آزمودن (fa) ( âzmudan ) , پژوهیدن (fa) ( pažuhidan )
Polish: próbować (pl)
Portuguese: tentar (pt) , experimentar (pt) , provar (pt)
Romanian: proba (ro)
Russian: про́бовать (ru) impf ( próbovatʹ ) , попро́бовать (ru) pf ( popróbovatʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: feuch
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: proběrowaś impf
Spanish: tratar (es) , intentar (es)
Swedish: prova (sv) , testa (sv)
Thai: ลอง (th) ( lɔɔng ) , ทดลอง (th) ( tót-lɔɔng )
Vietnamese: thử nghiệm (vi)
to put to test
Armenian: փորձարկել (hy) ( pʻorjarkel ) , փորձել (hy) ( pʻorjel )
Bulgarian: изпробвам (bg) ( izprobvam ) , изпитвам (bg) ( izpitvam )
Catalan: provar (ca)
Danish: afprøve
Dutch: uitproberen (nl) , toetsen (nl)
Esperanto: testi
Finnish: kokeilla (fi) , koettaa (fi)
French: tester (fr)
German: testen (de) , untersuchen (de) , ausprobieren (de)
Hungarian: kipróbál (hu) , próbára tesz (hu)
Indonesian: mencobai (id)
Irish: tástáil f
Italian: provare (it) , testare (it)
Japanese: 試みる (ja) ( kokoromiru )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: تاقی کردن ( taqî kirdin )
Latin: experior
Persian: آزمودن (fa) ( âzmudan )
Polish: testować (pl)
Portuguese: testar (pt)
Romanian: testa (ro) , proba (ro)
Russian: про́бовать (ru) impf ( próbovatʹ ) , попро́бовать (ru) pf ( popróbovatʹ ) , испы́тывать (ru) impf ( ispýtyvatʹ ) , испыта́ть (ru) pf ( ispytátʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: feuch
Serbo-Croatian: isprobati (sh)
Spanish: probar (es)
Swedish: prova (sv) , pröva (sv) , testa (sv)
Thai: ทดลอง (th) ( tót-lɔɔng ) , ทดสอบ (th) ( tót-sɔ̀ɔp )
to taste, sample, etc
Armenian: փորձել (hy) ( pʻorjel )
Bulgarian: опитвам (bg) ( opitvam )
Catalan: provar (ca) , tastar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 嘗 / 尝 (zh) ( cháng ) , 嘗味 / 尝味 ( chángwèi )
Danish: prøve (da)
Dutch: proeven (nl)
Esperanto: gustumi (eo) , provi
Finnish: kokeilla (fi)
French: essayer (fr) , goûter (fr)
Friulian: cercjâ
German: kosten (de) , probieren (de) , versuchen (de) , verkosten (de)
Hungarian: ( of food ) megkóstol (hu) , ( of clothes ) felpróbál (hu) , ( with any other object ) kipróbál (hu)
Indonesian: mencicipi (id)
Ingrian: proovata , yrittää , pruukata
Italian: assaggiare (it)
Japanese: 試す (ja) ( tamesu )
Khmer: សាកល្បង ( saak lbɑɑng )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: تام کردن ( tam kirdin )
Lao: ຊີມ ( sīm )
Malayalam: നോക്കുക (ml) ( nōkkuka )
Mòcheno: kostn
Persian: چشیدن (fa) ( češidan )
Polish: próbować (pl)
Portuguese: experimentar (pt) , provar (pt)
Quechua: llaqway , malliy (qu)
Romanian: gusta (ro) , încerca (ro)
Russian: про́бовать (ru) impf ( próbovatʹ ) , попро́бовать (ru) pf ( popróbovatʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: feuch
Serbo-Croatian: kušati (sh) , probati (sh)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: proběrowaś impf
Spanish: probar (es)
Swedish: prova (sv)
Thai: ลอง (th) ( lɔɔng ) , ชิม (th) ( chim )
Vietnamese: thử (vi)
Translations to be checked
try (plural tries )
An attempt .
I gave unicycling a try but I couldn’t do it.
1925 July – 1926 May , A[rthur] Conan Doyle , “(please specify the chapter number) ”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia , published April 2019: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.
An act of tasting or sampling.
I gave sushi a try but I didn’t like it.
( rugby ) A score in rugby league and rugby union , analogous to a touchdown in American football.
Today I scored my first try .
2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport [3] :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.
( 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.
( programming ) A block of code that may trigger exceptions the programmer expects to catch, usually demarcated by the keyword try .
Coordinate terms: except , catch
an attempt
Armenian: փորձ (hy) ( pʻorj )
Azerbaijani: cəhd (az)
Baluchi: کوشست ( košast ) , جہد
Bulgarian: опит (bg) m ( opit )
Catalan: prova (ca) f
Finnish: kokeilu (fi)
French: tentative (fr) f , essai (fr) m
Georgian: ცდა ( cda )
German: Versuch (de) m , Anlauf (de) m , Test (de) m , Probe (de) f
Greek: απόπειρα (el) ( apópeira )
Hungarian: próba (hu) , próbálkozás (hu) , kísérlet (hu)
Italian: tentativo (it) m , prova (it) f
Japanese: 試み (ja) ( kokoromi )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ھەوڵ ( hewll )
Latin: conatus , temptāmen n , temptāmentum n
Malay: cubaan (ms)
Malayalam: ശ്രമം (ml) ( śramaṁ )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: forsøk (no) n
Nynorsk: forsøk n
Persian: کوشش (fa) ( kušeš )
Polish: próba (pl) f
Portuguese: tentativa (pt) f
Romanian: încercare (ro) f , tentativă (ro) f , probă (ro) f
Russian: попы́тка (ru) f ( popýtka )
Scottish Gaelic: feuchainn f
Serbo-Croatian: pokušaj (sh) m
Spanish: intento (es) m
Swedish: försök (sv)
Turkish: girişim (tr)
Vietnamese: sự thử , lần thử
an act of tasting or sampling
Translations to be checked
Probably from Old French trié .
try (comparative more try , superlative most try )
( obsolete ) Fine , excellent .
1596 , Edmund Spenser , “Book V, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. [ … ] , part II (books IV–VI), London: [ … ] [Richard Field ] for William Ponsonby , →OCLC , page 203 :But he her ſuppliant hands, thoſe hands of gold, / And eke her feete, thoſe feete of ſiluer trye , […] Chopt off […].
( 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
( 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 )
try
third-person singular present indicative / future of troi