attempt

present singular third person attempts · participle present attempting · participle past attempted · past attempted · first person past singular attempted · archaic present second person singular attemptest · past second person singular attempted · archaic past second person singular attemptedst · present singular third person attempts · archaic present singular third person attempteth · past singular third person attempted · past plural attempted · past subjunctive attempted · participle present attempting · participle past attempted

1. To try.

   to attempt an escape from prison

   5 more examples

   I attempted to sing, but my throat was too hoarse.

   A group of 80 budding mountaineers attempted Kilimanjaro, but 30 of them didn’t make it to the top.

   Although it's hard to get right, please attempt to do so.

   Something attempted, something done, / Has earned a night's repose.

   1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Village Blacksmith

   Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.

   2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, “Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4

2. obsoleteTo try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt.

   It made the laughter of an afternoon / That Vivien should attempt the blameless king.

   1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Vivien”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 102

   1 more example

   Yet since I see you fearful, that neither my coat, integrity, nor persuasion can with ease attempt you, I will go further than I meant, to pluck all fears out of you.

   c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

3. archaicTo try to win, subdue, or overcome.

   one who attempts the virtue of a woman

   1 more example

   Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further: / Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute.

   c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

4. archaicTo attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force.

   to attempt the enemy’s camp

   1 more example

   without attempting his adversary’s life

   1830, John Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic

5. criminal lawTo make a substantial but unsuccessful effort (to commit a crime).

   Whoever takes a direct and immediate step towards the realisation of the offence as envisaged by them attempts to commit an offence.

   2021, “German Criminal Code”, in gesetze-im-internet.de

plural attempts

1. The action of trying at something.First known use 1530

   It was worth the attempt.

   4 more examples

   We made an attempt to cross the stream, but didn’t manage.

   This poem is much better than the feeble attempt of mine.

   No matter how many failed attempts we made, we maintained a positive attitude and tried again and again until we succeeded.

   But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea

   2012 March 28, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87

2. An assault or attack, especially an assassination attempt.First known use 1580

   No man can charge us of any attempt against the realm.

   1584, Allen’s Defence Of English Catholics, cited after Edinburgh Review 1883, page 378

3. criminal lawA substantial but unsuccessful effort (to commit a crime).

   Whoever voluntarily abandons the further commission of the offence or prevents its completion incurs no penalty for attempt.

   2021, “German Criminal Code”, in gesetze-im-internet.de

4. An act of trying to commit suicide

   Her attempt was not successful, and resulted in her being hospitalized.