Attempt definition

Attempt





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6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Attempt \At*tempt"\ (?; 215), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Attempted};
     p. pr. & vb. n. {Attempting}.] [OF. atenter, also spelt
     atempter, F. attenter, fr. L. attentare to attempt; ad +
     tentare, temptare, to touch, try, v. intens. of tendere to
     stretch. See {Tempt}, and cf. {Attend}.]
     1. To make trial or experiment of; to try; to endeavor to do


        or perform (some action); to assay; as, to attempt to
        sing; to attempt a bold flight.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Something attempted, something done,
              Has earned a night's repose.          --Longfellow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by
        temptations; to tempt. [Obs. or Archaic]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It made the laughter of an afternoon
              That Vivien should attempt the blameless king.
                                                    --Thackeray.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To try to win, subdue, or overcome; as, one who attempts
        the virtue of a woman.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further:
              Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to
        take by force; as, to attempt the enemy's camp.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Without attempting his adversary's life. --Motley.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: See {Try}.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Attempt \At*tempt"\, v. i.
     To make an attempt; -- with upon. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Attempt \At*tempt"\, n.
     A essay, trial, or endeavor; an undertaking; an attack, or an
     effort to gain a point; esp. an unsuccessful, as contrasted
     with a successful, effort.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           By his blindness maimed for high attempts. --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Attempt to commit a crime} (Law), such an intentional
        preparatory act as will apparently result, if not
        extrinsically hindered, in a crime which it was designed
        to effect. --Wharton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: {Attempt}, {Endeavor}, {Effort}, {Exertion}, {Trial}.
  
     Usage: These words agree in the idea of calling forth our
            powers into action. Trial is the generic term; it
            denotes a putting forth of one's powers with a view to
            determine what they can accomplish; as, to make trial
            of one's strength. An attempt is always directed to
            some definite and specific object; as, "The attempt,
            and not the deed, confounds us." --Shak. An endeavor
            is a continued attempt; as, "His high endeavor and his
            glad success." --Cowper. Effort is a specific putting
            forth of strength in order to carry out an attempt.
            Exertion is the putting forth or active exercise of
            any faculty or power. "It admits of all degrees of
            effort and even natural action without effort." --C.
            J. Smith. See {Try}.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  attempt
       n 1: earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or
            accomplish something; "made an effort to cover all the
            reading material"; "wished him luck in his endeavor";
            "she gave it a good try" [syn: {effort}, {endeavor}, {endeavour},
             {try}]
       2: the act of attacking; "attacks on women increased last
          year"; "they made an attempt on his life" [syn: {attack}]
       v 1: make an effort or attempt; "He tried to shake off his
            fears"; "The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps";
            "The police attempted to stop the thief"; "He sought to
            improve himself"; "She always seeks to do good in the
            world" [syn: {try}, {seek}, {essay}, {assay}]
       2: enter upon an activity or enterprise [syn: {undertake}, {set
          about}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  118 Moby Thesaurus words for "attempt":
     accept, affair, aim to, approach, assault, assay, assume, attack,
     attempt to, begin, beginning, bid, buckle to, business, care,
     chance, commence, commencement, commitment, contract, crack, dare,
     dare to, deal, effort, embark in, embark upon, endeavor, engage,
     engage in, engagement, enter on, enter upon, enterprise, essay,
     experiment, fall into, fall to, fling, gambit, get under way, go,
     go about, go at, go in for, go into, go upon, hassle, have at,
     hazard, inaugurate, initiate, initiation, launch forth,
     launch into, lay about, lick, lift a finger, make an attempt,
     make an effort, make bold, make free, move, move into, obligation,
     offer, operation, pains, pitch into, plan, plunge into, presume,
     pretend, pretend to, proceed to, program, project, proposition,
     seek, seek to, set about, set at, set forward, set going, set to,
     shot, shy, stab, start, step, strive, strive to, striving, stroke,
     strong bid, struggle, study to, tackle, take on, take the liberty,
     take up, task, tentative, trial, trial and error, trouble, try,
     try and, try to, turn to, undertake, undertaking, venture,
     venture on, venture to, venture upon, whack, work
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ATTEMPT, criminal law. An attempt to commit a crime, is an endeavor to
  accomplish it, carried beyond mere preparation, but falling short of
  execution of the ultimate design, in any part of it.
       2. Between preparations and attempts to commit a crime, the distinction
  is in many cases, very indeterminate. A man who buys poison for the purpose
  of committing a murder, and mixes it in the food intended for his victim,
  and places it on a table where he may take it, will or will not be guilty of
  an attempt to poison, from the simple circumstance of his taking back the
  poisoned food before or after the victim has had an opportunity to take it;
  for if immediately on putting it down, he should take it up, and, awakened
  to a just consideration of the enormity of the crime, destroy it, this would
  amount only to preparations and certainly if before he placed it on the
  table, or before he mixed the poison with the food, he had repented of his
  intention there would have been no attempt to commit a crime; the law gives
  this as a locus penitentiae. An attempt to commit a crime is a misdemeanor;
  and an attempt to commit a misdemeanor, is itself a misdemeanor. 1 Russ. on
  Cr. 44; 2 East, R. 8; 3 Pick. R. 26; 3 Benth. Ev. 69; 6 C. & P. 368.
  
  

















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