Meanings
present singular third person tries on · participle present trying on · participle past tried on · past tried on
- transitiveTo test the look or fit of (a garment) by wearing it.
c. 1601, Gervase Markham, The Dumb Knight, London: John Bache, 1608, Act III, Fore God it is a delicate fine suite, rich stuffe, rare worke, and of the newest fashion; nay if the Senats businesse were neuer so hasty, I will stay to try it on, come, help good wenches helpe, so there, there there.
3 more examples
Who is this fellow, Corinna? Some journeyman taylor, I suppose, who chuses to try on the gentleman’s cloaths before he carries them home—
1763, Arthur Murphy, The Citizen, London: G. Kearsly, act II, scene 1, page 27[…] Amy tried on the blue ring with a delighted face and a firm resolve to earn it.
1868, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 19, in Little Women“It would be a pity to throw away a good pair of shoes,” she said. “Try ’em on, boy.”
1929, Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel, New York: Scribner, Part Two, Chapter 17, p. 188 - slangtransitiveTo attempt; to undertake.
He could have feigned noncomprehension, but with Lanyon one didn’t try anything on.
1953, Mary Renault, chapter 2, in The Charioteer, New York: Pantheon, published 1959, page 261 more example
“He says, and gives it out publicly, “I want to see the man who’ll rob me.” Lord bless you, I have heard him, a hundred times, if I have heard him once, say to regular cracksmen in our front office, “You know where I live; now, no bolt is ever drawn there; why don’t you do a stroke of business with me? Come; can’t I tempt you?” Not a man of them, sir, would be bold enough to try it on, for love or money.”
1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XXV, in Great Expectations […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
verbput on a garment in order to see whether it fits and looks nice
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Catalan emprovar-se
- emprovar-seto test the look of
Chinese Mandarin 試穿 /试穿
- 試穿 /试穿 (shìchuān)to test the look of
Danish prøve på
- prøve påto test the look of
Dutch passen
- passento test the look of
Finnish sovittaa, koettaa
- sovittaato test the look of
- koettaato test the look of
- kokeillato test the look of
French essayer
- essayerto test the look of
German anprobieren
- anprobierento test the look of
Greek δοκιμάζω
- δοκιμάζω (dokimázo)to test the look of
Hungarian felpróbál
- felpróbálto test the look of
Icelandic máta
- mátato test the look of
Italian provare, misurare
- provareto test the look of
- misurareto test the look of
Japanese 試着する
- 試着する (shichaku suru)to test the look of
Norwegian Bokmål prøve på
- prøve påto test the look of
Polish przymierzać, przymierzyć
- przymierzaćto test the look of
- przymierzyćto test the look of
Portuguese provar
- provarto test the look of
Russian примеря́ть, приме́рить
- примеря́ть (primerjátʹ)to test the look of
- приме́рить (priméritʹ)to test the look of
Spanish probar
- probarto test the look of
Ukrainian приміря́ти, примі́ряти
- приміря́ти (prymirjáty)to test the look of
- примі́ряти (prymírjaty)to test the look of
- примі́рювати (prymírjuvaty)to test the look of
- примі́рити (prymíryty)to test the look of
Cite this entry
try on. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/try%20on
“try on.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/try%20on. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “try on,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/try%20on.
Source: try on on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.