Pronunciations (9)
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/tɹaɪ/
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[t͡ʃɹaɪ̯]
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[tɹ̝̊aɪ̯]
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[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔aɪ̯]
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[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷaɪ̯]
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/tɹɑj/
Pronunciation notes
- British
- Southern
- Standard
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/tɹaɪ/
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
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/tɹʌɪ/
Pronunciation notes
- dialectal
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[tɹəi̯]
Pronunciation notes
- dialectal
Verb
To attempt; to endeavour. Followed by infinitive.
- Examples
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I will try to help.
I tried to rollerblade, but I couldn’t.
Can you start the car? —I'll try (to).
More examples (3)
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.
Skywalker: Alright... I'll give it a try. Yoda: NO! Try not! Do, or do not. There is no "try".
[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.
To divide; to separate. To separate (precious metal etc.) from the ore by melting; to purify, refine.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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[…]euery feend his buſie paines applyde, / To melt the golden metall, ready to be tryde.
To divide; to separate. To winnow; to sift; to pick out; frequently followed by out.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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to try out the wild corn from the good
the wylde corne, beinge in shap and greatnesse lyke to the good, if they be mengled, with great difficultie will be tried out
To divide; to separate. To extract oil from blubber or fat; to melt down blubber to obtain oil
Usage- Obsolete
To divide; to separate. To extract wax from a honeycomb
Usage- Obsolete
To test, to work out. To make an experiment. Usually followed by a present participle.
- Examples
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I tried mixing more white paint to get a lighter shade.
To test, to work out. To put to test.
- Examples
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I shall try my skills on this.
More examples (1)
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.
“So mousie shall only find tins on the floor now,” thought Miss Mapp. “Mousie shall try his teeth on tins.”
More examples (1)
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.
To test, to work out. To test someone's patience.
Usage- specifically
- Examples
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You are trying my patience.
Don't try me.
To test, to work out. To fight or to make an attempt at an attack.
Usage- Slang
- used before a noun
- Examples
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You wouldn't dare and try me!
You fixin' to try something, fool?
To test, to work out. To receive an imminent attack; to take.
Usage- Figurative
- used in the imperative
- Examples
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Mona: Try this vampire bolt on for size! Cedric: Why don't you try this alien bolt?
To test, to work out. To taste, sample, etc.
- Examples
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Try this soup.
Oh, you need to try the soup of the day!
Calvin: What's this disgusting slimy blob? Dad: Try it. You'll love it.
To test, to work out. To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test.
- Examples
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to try weights or measures by a standard; to try a person's opinions
Let the end try the man.
To test, to work out. To attempt to determine (by experiment or effort).
Usage- with indirect interrogative clause
- Examples
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I'll try whether I can make it across town on foot.
Sir, the doctors and apothecaries are the greatest thieves in the world; they are always trying which can rob their patients the most.
To test, to work out. To put on trial.
- Examples
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The court will try the case next month.
He was tried and executed.
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.
More examples (2)
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.
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.
- Examples
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[…]try the Lybian Heat, or Scythian Cold.
Never more Mean I to trie what rash untri'd I sought, The paine of absence from thy sight.
To experiment, to strive. To work on something with one's best effort and focus.
- Examples
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Dad, for God's sake, I'm trying my best!
You are trying too hard.
To experiment, to strive. To do; to fare.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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How do you try! (i.e., how do you do?)
To experiment, to strive. To settle; to decide; to determine; specifically, to decide by an appeal to arms.
- Examples
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to try rival claims by a duel; to try conclusions
[…]Left I the Court, to ſee this Quarrell try’de.
To experiment, to strive. To attempt to conceive a child.
Usage- euphemistic
- of a couple
To lie to in heavy weather under just sufficient sail to head into the wind.
To strain; to subject to excessive tests.
- Examples
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The light tries his eyes.
Repeated failures try one's patience.
To want, to desire.
Usage- Slang
- used with another verb
- Examples
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I am really not trying to hear you talk about my mama like that.
Noun
An attempt.
- Examples
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Give it another try.
I gave unicycling a try but I couldn’t do it.
More examples (1)
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.
When Papillon makes his last impossible try for freedom they embrace with the tendresse of lovers, however manly and platonic.
An act of tasting or sampling.
- Examples
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I gave sushi a try but I didn’t like it.
A score in rugby league and rugby union, analogous to a touchdown in American football.
- Examples
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Today I scored my first try.
More examples (1)
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.
A screen, or sieve, for grain.
Usage- UK usage
- dialectal
- Obsolete
- Examples
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They will not passe thorough the holes of the sieve, ruddle or trie, if they be narrow.
A field goal or extra point
A move that almost solves a chess problem, except that Black has a unique defense.
A block of code that may trigger exceptions the programmer expects to catch, usually demarcated by the keyword try.
Adjective
Fine, excellent.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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But he her ſuppliant hands, thoſe hands of gold, / And eke her feete, thoſe feete of ſiluer trye, […] Chopt off […].
Noun
earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something
- Broader terms
- Examples
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made an effort to cover all the reading material
wished him luck in his endeavor
More examples (1)
she gave it a good try
Verb
make an effort or attempt
- Examples
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He tried to shake off his fears
The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps
More examples (3)
The police attempted to stop the thief
He sought to improve himself
She always seeks to do good in the world
put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to
- Broader terms
- Examples
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This approach has been tried with good results
Test this recipe
put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The football star was tried for the murder of his wife
The judge tried both father and son in separate trials
take a sample of
- Examples
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Try these new crackers
Sample the regional dishes
examine or hear (evidence or a case) by judicial process
- Synonyms
- Examples
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The jury had heard all the evidence
The case will be tried in California
give pain or trouble to
- Examples
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I've been sorely tried by these students
test the limits of
- Broader terms
- Examples
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You are trying my patience!
melt (fat or lard) in order to separate out impurities
- Synonyms
- Examples
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try the yak butter
render fat in a casserole
put on a garment in order to see whether it fits and looks nice
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Try on this sweater to see how it looks