try (n.)

  1. earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something; made an effort to cover all the reading material; wished him luck in his endeavor; she gave it a good try

    [ Syn: attempt , effort , endeavor , endeavour ]

    try (v.)

  1. make an effort or attempt; He tried to shake off his fears; The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps; The police attempted to stop the thief; He sought to improve himself; She always seeks to do good in the world

    [ Syn: seek , attempt , essay , assay ]

  2. put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to; This approach has been tried with good results; Test this recipe

    [ Syn: test , prove , try out , examine , essay ]

  3. put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of; The football star was tried for the murder of his wife; The judge tried both father and son in separate trials

    [ Syn: judge , adjudicate ]

  4. take a sample of; Try these new crackers; Sample the regional dishes

    [ Syn: sample , try out , taste ]

  5. examine or hear (evidence or a case) by judicial process; The jury had heard all the evidence; The case will be tried in California

    [ Syn: hear ]

  6. give pain or trouble to; I've been sorely tried by these students'

  7. test the limits of; You are trying my patience!

    [ Syn: strain , stress ]

  8. melt (fat or lard) in order to separate out impurities; try the yak butter; render fat in a casserole

    [ Syn: render ]

  9. put on a garment in order to see whether it fits and looks nice; Try on this sweater to see how it looks

    [ Syn: try on ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.