▪ I. effort, n.
(ˈɛfət)
[a. F. effort, noun of action, f. efforcer: see efforce v.; in OF. and Pr. esfort, It. sforzo. In 17th and 18th c. accented eˈffort; see quots. in 2.]
† 1. Power: also, pl. powers, properties. Obs.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos i. 14 The yate..passed alle other in efforte and strengthe. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 15 The same Efforts, she does confer Upon the same Productions here. |
2. a. A strenuous putting forth of power, physical or mental; a laborious attempt; a struggle.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon 527 Thadmyrall sawe the grete efforte of armes that Reynawde made agenste his folke. c 1636 Denham Passion of Dido 248 Life's last efforts yet striving with her wound. 1682 Shadwell Medal 121 In Cromwels Court, Where first your Muse did make her great effort. 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 113 The panting Courser..Makes many a faint Effort. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) H h iv, The rope-bands are sufficient to sustain the effort of the sail. 1809–10 Coleridge Friend (1865) 7 On whatever subject the mind feels a lively interest, attention, though always an effort, becomes a delightful effort. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §27. 202 It required a considerable effort to escape. |
b. In the fine arts, oratory, etc.: A display of power, an achievement. Often used somewhat trivially for any kind of achievement, artefact, or result of activity.
| 1857 Buckle Civilis. I. xiii. 728 There is..in some of his [Bossuet's] greatest efforts..much..majesty of genius. 1871 L. W. M. Lockhart Fair to See xxiii, His first attempt [sc. the letter itself] ran thus..and he tried again... This effort was also torn up in despair. 1924 A. D. Sedgwick Little French Girl i. vii. 59 The Venus is an effort of Ruth's. 1945 C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake (ed. 2) 26 Effort, applied to anything that has been made, especially mechanical. 1967 Lebende Sprachen XII. 161/1 Companies who have extensive development efforts under way. Ibid., The research effort will be carried out by the development of laboratories already in operation. Ibid., The government recognizes the benefits of a broadbased space effort. |
c. Mech. (See quots. 1842, 1875.)
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, Effort, the force with which a body in motion tends to produce an effect, whether the effect be really produced or impeded. 1875 Rankine & Bamber Mech. Text-Bk. (ed. 2) 205 A direct force is..distinguished, according as it acts with or against the motion of the point..by the name of effort, or of resistance, as the case may be. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 764/2 If the component along the direction of motion acts with the motion, it is called an effort. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. IX. 200/2 The ratio of the load to the effort is the mechanical advantage of the machine, and the ratio of the distance moved by the effort to the distance moved by the load is the velocity ratio. |
▪ II. † eˈffort, v. Obs.
[f. ef- + L. fortis strong.]
trans. To strengthen, fortify.
| 1662 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 276 He efforted his spirits with the remembrance..of what formerly he had been. |