▪ I. attempt, v.
(əˈtɛmt)
Also 7 attemp, attemt.
[a. OF. (14th c.) attempte-r, Latinized spelling of attenter = Pr. attentar, It. attentare:—L. attemptāre, attentāre, to strive after, try, attack, f. at- = ad- to, at + tempt-, tentāre, to try, test, freq. of tendĕre to stretch. See also the rarer attent.]
I. To try, endeavour, essay.
1. trans. To make an effort, to use one's endeavour to do or accomplish some action: a. with inf. To endeavour, try, essay.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge 100 The foresayd wylde gees attempten by no way To hurte theyr fruytes. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. i. 39 You must..either not attempt to choose at all, Or sweare, etc. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 228 Him he attempts with studied arts to please. 1810 Coleridge Friend (1865) 82 The truths we may attempt to communicate. 1850 M{supc}Cosh Div. Govt. ii. ii. (1874) 168 Phenomena in which science never attempts to discover law. |
b. with vbl. n., noun of action, or pron. representing them: To try, essay.
| 1538 Starkey England 22 Many..wych wythout profyt had attemptyd the same. 1558 Queen Elizabeth in Strype Ann. Ref. I. App. i. 2 Not to attempt..chaunge of any ordre or usage presently establyshed. 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 255 Vnkle, I must come forth. Gra. If thou attempt it, it will cost thee deere. 1611 Bible Pref. 2 Whosoeuer attempteth anything for the publike. 1754 Hume Hist. Eng. iv, To embolden her to attempt extorting the right of investitures. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. 216 Without attempting any reply. 1876 Green Short Hist. i. §3 (1882) 22 To attempt the conversion of the English. |
c. absol.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. iv. 79 Our doubts..make vs loose the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt. |
2. ellipt. To essay to engage with or have to do with, to try to accomplish or attain (any action or object of activity, esp. one attended with risk or danger); to venture upon, try one's fortune with.
| c 1534 tr. Polyd. Verg. Eng. Hist. (1846) I. 81 The battayle was soe fearselie attempted as whoe shulde say eche mann thrested other's life. 1691 Ray Creation (1704) 192 Courage and Hardiness to attempt the Seas. 1701 Stanley's Hist. Philos. Biogr. 2 Stanley was not the first who had attempted this Province. 1858 in Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 189 The vessel must not attempt the port, but continue at sea. |
† 3. To try to use or in use; to try the effect or operation of, make trial of. Obs.
| 1563 Foxe in Latimer's Serm. & Rem. (1845) Introd. 15 Some also there were which attempted the pen against him. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. Wks. 1738 I. 539 After they..had attempted all other ways and means. 1770 Junius Lett. xxxix. 195 Everyone of these remedies has been..attempted. |
II. To try to influence or move.
† 4. To try with afflictions. Obs.
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. cxxx. [cxxvi.] 369 Sir Olyuer of Clyssone, whom I can nat loue nor neuer dyde, nor he me (who shall attempte me with rygorous wordes). 1550 Duke of Somerset Pref. Coverdale's Spir. Perle (1588) A v, It pleased God for a time to attempt vs with his scourge, and to proue if we loued him. 1650 Jer. Taylor Holy Dying iii. §4 (1727) 72 O Pain, in vain do'st thou attempt me. |
5. To try with temptations, try to win over, seduce, or entice; to tempt. arch.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge 191 Sore attempted by his gostly enemy. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 8 God..Hinder'd not Satan to attempt the minde of Man. 1691 Norris Pract. Disc. 26 They attempt us, as the Devil did Adam. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 20 It made the laughter of an afternoon That Vivien should attempt the blameless King. |
b. Const. to do something, to an action, course, etc.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge 191 The bedyls of Belial attempted full fast The erle and his countesse to kepe theyr opinion. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. xi. 63 Why then will ye, fond dame, attempted bee Unto a stranger's love? a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1693) 119 His Highness should not be attempted to recede from the Religion. 1773 J. Berridge Chr. World Unm. (1815) 22 Nothing will be found, I fear, to attempt a man to be a thief. |
† 6. To endeavour to obtain or attract. Obs.
| 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 126 This man of thine attempts her loue. 1749 Johnson Van. Hum. Wishes in Boswell (1816) 172 Shall..No cries attempt the mercy of the skies? |
† 7. To try to move, to seek to influence (by reasoning, entreaty); to address with urgency. Obs.
| a 1547 Earl of Surrey æneid iv. (R.) Lefull it is for the For to attempt his fansie by request. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 421 Deare sir, of force I must attempt you further, Take some remembrance of vs as a tribute. 1671 Milton Samson 1457, I have attempted, one by one, the lords..With supplication prone and father's tears, To accept of ransom for my son. 1673 Cave Prim. Chr. iii. ii. 261 She had been oft attempted..by the perswasions of good men. |
III. To try with violence or force, make an attack upon.
8. intr. (with indirect passive) To make an attempt of hostile nature, an attack, or assault upon (an enemy, a fortress, life, property, an institution, etc.). Fr. attenter sur. Obs. (now ‘to make an attempt upon,’ or as 9.)
| 1636 Ariana 90 That wicked desire in you to attempt upon her honour. 1645 Cromwell Lett. & Sp. (1871) I. 179 We look to be attempted upon euery day. 1658–9 in Burton Diary (1828) III. 482 If..your interest be attempted upon. 1697 Congreve Mourn. Bride iv. vii, Look that she attempt not on her life. |
† b. To attempt nothing, the like, upon = to make no, the like, attempt upon. Fr. rien attenter sur. Obs.
| 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 17 If you cannot Barre his accesse to' th' King, neuer attempt Anything on him. c 1613 W. Browne Elegy in Overbury's Wks. (1856) 12 Attempt the like on his unspotted fame. 1745 in Col. Rec. Penn. V. 5 Something will be attempted upon Us this Winter by the Enemy. |
9. trans. To try to master, take by force, or overthrow; to attack, assail, assault: a. an enemy, fortress, etc. arch.
| 1605 Rowlands Hell's Br. Loose 32 With courage now let vs our selues addresse, Attempting on the sodaine Munster Towne. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1858) 207 How I should escape from them, if they attempted me. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 169/2 They attempted the Capitol by night. 1813 Examiner 22 Feb. 120/2 The Bank was attempted, but it was saved by the soldiery. |
b. in various fig. and transf. senses. arch.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 26 What attempth you, to attempt vs, To come on vs before the messenger thus? 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. xv. 239 That no disordered blast attempt her braided haire. 1749 Chesterfield Lett. 210 II. 303 The former would not have attempted..the liberties of Rome. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 67 Those rash hands which attempted his father's crown. |
† c. To make an attack upon the chastity of, to try to ravish or seduce. Obs.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 3 Apes that attempt women. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. vii. (1660) 136 The Judges..who attempted Susanna. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xviii. 29 When one of our sex finds she is attempted. |
d. to attempt the life of: to try to take the life of, try to kill.
| 1743 J. Morris Serm. iii. 73 The unbelieving Jews frequently attempted the life of Jesus. 1883 L'pool Daily Post 31 Dec., The life of Mr. Forster was repeatedly attempted. |
▪ II. attempt, n.
(əˈtɛmt)
[f. prec. vb.]
1. a. A putting forth of effort to accomplish what is uncertain or difficult; a trial, essay, endeavour; effort, enterprise, undertaking.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Heb. vi. 3 (R.) If God be favourable vnto our attemptes. 1660 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 80/1 Tolerance raiseth us to high Attempts. c 1680 Sir T. Browne Tracts 155 For such an attempt there wanteth not encouragement. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 168 ¶5 It is a worthy Attempt to undertake the cause of distrest Youth. 1751 Johnson Rambl. 165 ¶7 The first attempts of a new claimant. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §18. 122 The weather was sufficiently good to justify an attempt. |
b. esp. The effort in contrast with the attainment of its object; effort merely, futile endeavour.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. ii. 11 They haue awak'd, And 'tis not done: th' attempt, and not the deed, Confounds vs. 1784 Cowper Task v. 369 The State that strives for Liberty, though foiled..Deserves at least applause for her attempt. 1877 W. Lytteil Landm. iv. x. 257 These conflicting notions are only the result of attempts at interpretation. |
c. Const. to do, at (of obs.) doing.
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 18 ¶2 Some attempts of forming Pieces upon Italian Plans. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. iii. 136 The vain Attempts of Men to dive into the Mysteries of God. 1876 Green Short Hist. viii. §5 (1882) 509 An attempt to vest the government of the Church in the King. |
d. phr. to make an attempt (to give attempt, obs.): to make an effort, to try (to do a thing).
| c 1534 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. ii. (1846) 27 When as they might with better lucke geve newe attempt. 1580 North Plutarch (1595) 236 After many attemptes made. 1632 Sir R. Le Grys Velleius 133 Cinna..dared give attempt upon those things which no honest man ever durst thinke. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 142 Made another attempt this day to see the Cedars. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 177 He made a feeble attempt to restrain the intolerant zeal of the House of Commons. |
† 2. a. The thing attempted, object aimed at, aim.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. ii. (1660) 107 His noble courage and high attempts atchieved. 1790 Paley Hor. Paul. Rom. ii. 17 His design and attempt was to sail..immediately from Greece. |
b. A concrete result of an attempt.
| 1871 L. W. M. Lockhart Fair to See xxiii, His first attempt [sc. a letter] ran thus. |
3. An effort to accomplish an object by force or violence: † a. A warlike enterprise; an attack, assault, onset. Obs. or arch.
| 1584 Allen in Edin. Rev. (1883) 378 No man can charge us of any attempt against the realm. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 56 The King following, gave no attempt unto the citie, for that he knew to be but vaine. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. vi. 39 Hee Prepares for some attempt of Warre. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low-C. Wars 629 These strong attempts of the Enemy did not terrify the Hollanders. |
b. A personal assault made upon a person's life, a woman's honour, etc. Now usually requiring specification: ‘an attempt upon the life of,’ etc.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 491, I see what crosses my attempt will bring. 1603 ― Meas. for M. iii. i. 267 The Maid will I frame, and make fit for his attempt. 1611 ― Cymb. i. iv. 128 A Repulse, though your attempt (as you call it) deserue more. Mod. Another attempt upon the life of the Czar. |
† c. fig. Obs.
| 1662 More Antid. Ath. iii. xv. (1712) 135 That all the Species of things..came first out of the Earth, by the omnifarious attempt of the particles of the matter upon one another. 1673 Cave Prim. Chr. i. iii. 51 Coming off from all the attempts of adversity with victory and triumph. |
† 4. Temptation, seduction. Obs.
| 1611 Bible Ecclus. ix. 4 Vse not much the companie of a woman that is a singer, least thou be taken with her attempts. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 295 To avoid Th' attempt it self, intended by our Foe. For hee who tempts..at least asperses The tempted with dishonour foul. |