FromMiddle Englishtrien(“to separate out, sift, choose, select, evaluate, try a legal case”), fromAnglo-Normantrier,triher,triere(“to divide, separate, choose, select, prove, determine, try a case”),Old Frenchtrier(“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin. Cognate withOccitantriar(“to choose, sort, scrutinise, peel”),Catalantriar(“to pick, choose, decide”). Suggested to be derived fromLate Latin*trītāre(“to crush, grind, trample, wear out”), itself derived fromClassical Latintrītus(“rubbed, worn down, pulverised”), the past participle ofterō, 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)"; compareLatintrītūra(“rubbing, chafing, friction" also "threshing”)), which has a parallel in the modern Frenchtrier le grain(“to sort the grain”). Alternatively, perhaps derived fromVulgar Latin*trīāre, a metathetic alteration of*tīrāre(“to tear off, pull, draw”), whence alsoOld Frenchtirer(“to draw, pull, pluck, tug, peck at, extract”),Occitantirar(“to take, draw, retrieve, remove, extract”).
Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings andtried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.
[Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes andtrying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes.
The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke wastrying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.
Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants wetry, the better.
The murderer, he recalled, had beentried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.
1987,Hadi Khorsandi, “It Didn’t Quite Work Out—2”, in Ehssan Javan, transl.,The Ayatollah and I:
I sit in front of the mirror andtry myself. I am no impartial judge, otherwise I would have had myself executed several times over by now.
2017 August 27, Brandon Nowalk, “Game Of Thrones slows down for the longest, and best, episode of the season (newbies)”, inThe Onion AV Club[2]:
Sansa pretends to gather everyone in the great hall totry Arya, and at the last moment reveals she’s actuallytrying Littlefinger for murder and treason, although I think everyone in that room already knew what was going on except him.
To experiment, to strive.
To have or gain knowledge of by experience.
1697,Virgil, “The First Pastoral. Or, Tityrus and Melibœus.”, inJohn Dryden, transl.,The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis.[…], London:[…]Jacob Tonson,[…],→OCLC,page 4, line88:
[…]try theLybian Heat, orScythian Cold.
1667,John Milton, “Book IX”, inParadise Lost.[…], London:[…] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…], London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC:
Never more Mean I totrie what rash untri'd I sought, The paine of absence from thy sight.
(to attempt): This is acatenative verb that takes theto infinitive. Conjugations unmarked for tense can takeand instead ofto, for which also seeCitations:try.
I'm going to tryto distract him.
I'm going to tryand distract him.
And still requires that the two verbs be in the same mood, asand normally does, but the second verb must still be in the bare form as it is afterto. For this reason,and can only be used where bothtry and the subsequent verb are in the unmarked form. Accordingly,He will try and explain,I try and explain, and the imperativeTry and explain occur, but not*He tries and explain/explains,*He tried and explain/explained, or*He is trying and explain/explaining. In the latter contexts, onlyto will be used:He tried to explain. Becausetry and is oftenprescriptively deprecated, it is best avoided in formal writing (aiming for the audience's approval), butdescriptively it is a fact thattry and is an idiomatic form.
(to make an experiment): This is acatenative verb that takes thegerund (-ing).
In older forms of English, when the pronounthou was in active use, and verbs used-est for distinct second-person singular indicative forms, the verbtry had the formtriest, and hadtriedst for its past tense.
Similarly, when the ending-eth was in active use for third-person singular present indicative forms, the formtrieth was used.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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 atry for the championship.
1974 February 2, Jonathan Cross, “Poor Butterfly”, inGay Community News, volume 1, number32, page 4:
When Papillon makes his last impossibletry for freedom they embrace with thetendresse of lovers, however manly and platonic.
2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, inBBC Sport[3]:
But two penalties and a drop-goal from Jonny Wilkinson, despite a host of other wayward attempts, plus a latetry from Chris Ashton were enough to send a misfiring England through.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
