To 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.
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:
2 more examples
[…] 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:
“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:
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 26:
All try-ons should be conducted before the lineup begins lo be sure the clothes or accessories fit properly. All participants should be dressed the same.2009, Anne Harris, Alys Briggs, California Criminal Law Procedure and Practice, page 599:
2
Slang An attempt to "try it on", to see whether somebody can be duped.
Then he burst into a stream of horrible profanity. "What's the game?" he cried, glaring round him. "Do you think I am easy and that you can play me for a sucker? Is it a frame-up, or what? You've chose the wrong man for a try-on of that sort."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: