try
nounEtymology
From Middle English trien (“to separate out, sift, choose, select, evaluate, try a legal case”), from Anglo-Norman trier, triher, triere (“to divide, separate, choose, select, prove, determine, try a case”), Old French trier (“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Occitan triar (“to choose, sort, scrutinise, peel”), Catalan triar (“to pick, choose, decide”). Suggested to be derived from Late Latin *trītāre (“to crush, grind, trample, wear out”), itself derived from Classical Latin trītus (“rubbed, worn down, pulverised”), the past participle of terō, terere (“to rub, wear down, trample”), though this derivation is incompatible with the Occitan form. Additionally, the shift in meaning from "rub, crush, trample" to "pick out, choose, cull" is difficult to explain. One suggestion is that the semantic shift might have originated from a Latin phrase *granum terere ("to tread the corn (in threshing)"; compare Latin trītūra (“rubbing, chafing, friction" also "threshing”)), which has a parallel in the modern French trier le grain (“to sort the grain”). Alternatively, perhaps derived from Vulgar Latin *trīāre, a metathetic alteration of *tīrāre (“to tear off, pull, draw”), whence also Old French tirer (“to draw, pull, pluck, tug, peck at, extract”), Occitan tirar (“to take, draw, retrieve, remove, extract”). Replaced native Middle English cunnen (“to try”) (from Old English cunnian), Middle English fandien (“to try, prove”) (from Old English fandian), and Middle English costnien (“to try, tempt, test”) (from Old English costnian).
7 senses
An attempt.
- I gave unicycling a try but I couldn’t do it.
- 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.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:
1 more example
- When Papillon makes his last impossible try for freedom they embrace with the tendresse of lovers, however manly and platonic.1974 February 2, Jonathan Cross, “Poor Butterfly”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 32, page 4:
An act of tasting or sampling.
- I gave sushi a try but I didn’t like it.
Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Rugby, Sports A score in rugby league and rugby union, analogous to a touchdown in American football.
- Today I scored my first try.
- 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.2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport:
- They will not passe thorough the holes of the sieve, ruddle or trie, if they be narrow.1603, Plutarch, translated by Philemon Holland, The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC:
American football, Ball games, Football, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A field goal or extra point
Board games, Chess, Games A move that almost solves a chess problem, except that Black has a unique defense.
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences A block of code that may trigger exceptions the programmer expects to catch, usually demarcated by the keyword try.
- Derived terms
- captain's try, college try, give a try, good try, interception try, nice try, old college try, penalty try, Terms derived from the noun try, try cock, try-scorer, tryscorer, tryscoring