attempt

attempt
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noun
ADJECTIVE
successful
abortive, botched, failed, fruitless, futile, ill-fated, misguided, unsuccessful, vain

her vain attempt to save her son's life

conscious, deliberate
bold, brave, concerted, determined, serious, valiant
blatant
feeble, half-hearted, lame, pathetic, weak

She smiled at my feeble attempt at humour/humor.

I made a half-hearted attempt at cleaning my apartment.

clumsy, crude
desperate, frantic, last-ditch

a desperate attempt to find survivors

repeated

repeated attempts to break through enemy lines

first

That's not bad for a first attempt.

assassination, coup, escape, rescue, suicide

Rescue attempts were stopped because of bad weather.

VERB + ATTEMPT
make

She has made no attempt to contact her mother.

succeed in

He succeeded in his attempt to break the world record.

abandon, fail in, give up

He abandoned his attempt to reach the summit.

foil, thwart

Their attempt to break out of prison was foiled.

resist

The board said it would resist any attempt to take control of the company.

ATTEMPT + VERB
succeed
fail
PREPOSITION
in an/the attempt

In an attempt to ward off criticism, the government has made education a priority.

attempt at

He made a feeble attempt at a smile.

attempt by

an attempt by workers to prevent job losses

PHRASES
an attempt on sb's life (= an attempt to kill sb)
at the first, second, etc. attempt (esp. BrE), in the first, second, etc. attempt (AmE)

I passed my test at/in the first attempt.

{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}
verb
Attempt is used with these nouns as the object: ↑comeback, ↑crossing, ↑escape, ↑feat, ↑manoeuvre, ↑reconciliation, ↑rescue, ↑stunt, ↑suicide

Collocations dictionary. 2013.

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Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • attempt — at·tempt n: the crime of having the intent to commit and taking action in an effort to commit a crime that fails or is prevented – called also criminal attempt; see also impossibility ◇ There is no settled answer to how close to completing a… …   Law dictionary

  • attempt — vb Attempt, try, endeavor, essay, strive, struggle as verbs mean to make an effort to do something that may or may not be successful and as nouns (the single exception in form being striving) mean the effort made to accomplish such an end.… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 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]… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 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},… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Attempt — At*tempt , v. i. To make an attempt; with upon. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • attempt — [n] try, effort all one’s got*, attack, bid*, crack*, dry run*, endeavor, exertion, experiment, fling, go, header*, lick*, one’s all, one’s darnedest*, one’s level best*, pursuit, shot, stab, striving, struggle, trial, try, tryout, undertaking,… …   New thesaurus

  • attempt — [ə tempt′] vt. [ME attempten < OFr attempter < L attemptare, to try, solicit < ad , to + temptare, to try: see TEMPT] 1. to make an effort to do, get, have, etc.; try; endeavor 2. Archaic to tempt n. 1. a try 2. an attack, as on a person …   English World dictionary

  • attempt — ► VERB ▪ make an effort to achieve or complete (something). ► NOUN ▪ an act of attempting. ORIGIN Latin attemptare, from temptare to tempt …   English terms dictionary

  • Attempt — This article is about the crime of attempt. For other uses, see wikt:attempt …   Wikipedia

  • attempt — I n. 1) to make an attempt 2) to foil, thwart an attempt 3) an abortive, fruitless, futile, vain; all out, concerted, last ditch; bold, brazen, daring; crude; deliberate; feeble, halfhearted, weak; first; premature; successful attempt; repeated… …   Combinatory dictionary

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