attempt

== English == === Etymology === Late 14th century, as Middle English attempten, from Old French atempter, from Latin attemptō (“I try, solicit”), from ad (“to”) + temptare, more correctly tentare (“to try”); see tempt. The noun is from the 1530s, the sense "an assault on somebody's life, assassination attempt" (French attentat) is from 1580. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /əˈtɛmpt/ Rhymes: -ɛmpt === Verb === attempt (third-person singular simple present attempts, present participle attempting, simple past and past participle attempted) To try. (obsolete) To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt. (archaic) To try to win, subdue, or overcome. (archaic) To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force. (criminal law) To make a substantial but unsuccessful effort (to commit a crime). ==== Usage notes ==== This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Synonyms ==== take a stab at, take a run at, assay, essay, seek ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Noun === attempt (plural attempts) The action of trying at something. [1530] An assault or attack, especially an assassination attempt. [1580] 1584, Allen’s Defence Of English Catholics, cited after Edinburgh Review 1883, page 378: No man can charge us of any attempt against the realm. (criminal law) A substantial but unsuccessful effort (to commit a crime). An act of trying to commit suicide ==== Usage notes ==== ==== Synonyms ==== effort, try, bid ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === “attempt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “attempt”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “attempt”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.