See Also:

try (iou)



try verb. . ME.
[Old French trier sift, pick out = Portuguese, Catalan triar, of unkn. origin.]
I. verb trans.
Set apart from another or others; distinguish; separate out. Formerly also, pick out, select. Long arch. ME.
b. Sift, strain; separate out by sifting or straining. LME-L18.
c. Separate (metal) from ore or dross by melting; refine, purify by fire. Also, remove (the dross or impurity) from metal by fire. Usu. foll. by out. LME-L17.
d. Extract (oil) from blubber or fat by heating; melt down or render to obtain oil etc. Usu. foll. by out. LME.
a. Ascertain, discover; search or sift out. ME-M18.
b. Determine the truth of (a matter), esp. in battle; settle (a quarrel) etc. in this way. Also foll. by out. Now rare. M16.
Law.
a. Examine and decide (a case or issue) judicially; adjudicate, judge; US submit (a case) for trial. ME.
W. March A murder case which was being tried.
b. Subject (a person) to trial. M16.
V. S. Reid Flemming was arrested, tried, and executed. S. Bedford Antonia was arrested and tried for murder.
Test the truth, strength, soundness, etc., of by some action, put to the test, (freq. foll. by out); spec. test the degree of fastening of (a door, window, etc.). ME.
E. Mittelholzer He sat..on the bed 'to try it out', as he put it. F. O'Connor He..tried the front door. It was not locked. F. Forsyth Each..had been tried and tested in battle many times.
b. Test (a person) to determine the truth of an assertion or belief about him or her. Freq. as try me. L20.
A. Price 'Maybe you won't like it, Oliver.'..'Try me.'
Make an attempt at; make an effort to achieve or accomplish. ME.
S. Leacock He..tried the examination: and he..failed. P. Marshall You begin to know..how much you are capable of..by daring to try something.
Show or prove to be; demonstrate. Now rare or obsolete. LME.
Make severe demands on; strain the endurance or patience of. M16.
E. Taylor Don't work too hard,..or try your eyes. P. Angadi The twins are enough to try anyone's patience.
Test the effect or operation of; examine the effectiveness of a thing or action to produce a desired result. M16.
Q. Crisp First they tried religion, then drugs, then meditation and now hypnosis. Bon Appetit Try an Alsatian Gewurtztraminer..to balance the spiciness of the dish.
Smooth roughly planed wood with a plane to give an accurately flat surface. Freq. foll. by up. L16.
Attempt to find out or determine by experiment or effort. Now chiefly in try one's luck s.v. LUCK noun. L16.
Experience; undergo. Chiefly poet. L16-M18.
II. verb intrans.
Nautical. Of a ship etc: lie to. M16-M19.
Foll. by at, (out) for: attempt to reach or obtain; apply or compete for. M16.
M. Atwood I could try for a movie. P. Fitzgerald You oughtn't to try for the certificate.
Make an effort to perform a specified action or act in a specified way; make an attempt at something understood; endeavour. (Foll. by to do, (colloq.) and do.) M17.
E. Bowen I'd love to try. E. J. Howard She tried unsuccessfully to free her ear-ring from the gauze ruffle. W. Bagehot The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than you can be. A. Bleasdale He has gone faster and faster to try and get away.
Search ground for game etc. colloq. E19.
Phrases: try a fall: see FALL noun2. try anything once: indicating willingness on the part of the speaker to attempt or experience something new. try a person's mettle: see METTLE noun. try back search or cover ground a second time; retrace one's steps. try conclusions with: see CONCLUSION. try for size: see SIZE noun1. try in Dentistry place (a denture etc.) in the patient's mouth to test the fit. try it on the dog colloq. test the effect of a thing, esp. a play etc., on a person or group considered less important than the intended users or audience. try it on (with) colloq. (a) test the patience or endurance of (another); (b) attempt to outwit, deceive, or seduce (another person). try masteries: see MASTERY 5. try me: see sense 4b above. try on put on (a garment) to see if it fits or suits one. try one's hand at attempt for the first time; test one's ability or aptitude at. try one's luck: see LUCK noun. try one's wings: see WING noun.
Comb.: try-in Dentistry the experimental trial of a denture etc. in a patient's mouth; trying-plane a long heavy plane used after the jack-plane in squaring timber; trying-pot = try-pot s.v. TRY noun; try-on colloq. (a) an attempt to outwit or deceive another person; transf. the subject of such an attempt; (b) the action or an act of trying on a garment; try-out colloq. an experimental test of performance, popularity, etc.; a trial run or period; try-your-strength, try-your-weight adjectives designating a machine at a fair etc. which measures a person's strength or weight.
trying adjective (a) rare attempting, endeavouring; (b) that strains patience or endurance; annoying, vexatious: L16.
tryingly adverb M19.
tryingness noun L19.