attempt
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Italic *ad
Proto-Italic *ad-
Latin ad-
Latin temptō
Latin attemptōder.
Old French atempterbor.
Middle English attempten
English attempt
Late 14th century, as Middle English attempten, from Old French atempter, from Latin attemptō (“to try, solicit”), from ad- (“to”) + temptō; see tempt.
The noun is from the 1530s, the sense "an assault on somebody's life, assassination attempt" (French attentat) is from 1580. By surface analysis, at- + tempt.
Inflected forms:
form: attempts
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: attempting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: attempted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: attempted
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: attempt
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: attempt
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: attempted
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: attempt
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: attemptest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: attempted
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: attemptedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: attempts
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: attempteth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: attempted
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: attempt
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: attempted
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: attempt
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: attempted
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: attempt
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: attempting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: attempted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: attempts
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To try.
pos: verb
examples: to attempt an escape from prison
I attempted to sing, but my throat was too hoarse.
A group of 80 budding mountaineers attempted Kilimanjaro, but 30 of them didn’t make it to the top.
Although it's hard to get right, please attempt to do so.
Something attempted, something done, / Has earned a night's repose.
Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.
gloss: To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
examples: Yet since I see you fearful, that neither my coat, integrity, nor persuasion can with ease attempt you, I will go further than I meant, to pluck all fears out of you.
It made the laughter of an afternoon / That Vivien should attempt the blameless king.
gloss: To try to win, subdue, or overcome.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
examples: one who attempts the virtue of a woman
Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further: / Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute.
gloss: To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
examples: to attempt the enemy’s camp
without attempting his adversary’s life
gloss: To make a substantial but unsuccessful effort (to commit a crime).
pos: verb
examples: Whoever takes a direct and immediate step towards the realisation of the offence as envisaged by them attempts to commit an offence.
gloss: The action of trying at something.
pos: noun
examples: We made an attempt to cross the stream, but didn’t manage.
This poem is much better than the feeble attempt of mine.
It was worth the attempt.
No matter how many failed attempts we made, we maintained a positive attitude and tried again and again until we succeeded.
But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea
gloss: An assault or attack, especially an assassination attempt.
pos: noun
examples: No man can charge us of any attempt against the realm.
gloss: A substantial but unsuccessful effort (to commit a crime).
pos: noun
examples: Whoever voluntarily abandons the further commission of the offence or prevents its completion incurs no penalty for attempt.
gloss: An act of trying to commit suicide
pos: noun
examples: Her attempt was not successful, and resulted in her being hospitalized.
Synonyms: take a stab at
take a run at
assay
essay
seek
effort
try
bid
Derived words: apetempt
attemptability
attemptable
attempter
attemptive
unattempted
unattempting
reattempt
attemptless
nonattempt
Translations: