Try \Try\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {tried}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Trying}.] [OE. trien to select, pick out, F. trier to cull, to out, LL. tritare to triturate (hence the sense of, to thresh, to separate the grain from the straw, to select), L. terere, tritum, to rub, bruise, grind, thresh. See {Trite}.] 1. To divide or separate, as one sort from another; to winnow; to sift; to pick out; -- frequently followed by out; as, to try out the wild corn from the good. [Obs.] --Sir T. Elyot.
2. To purify or refine, as metals; to melt out, and procure in a pure state, as oil, tallow, lard, etc. --Shak.
The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. --Ps. xii. 6.
For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. --Ps. lxvi. 10.
3. To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test; as, to try weights or measures by a standard; to try a man's opinions.
Let the end try the man. --Shak.
4. To subject to severe trial; to put to the test; to cause suffering or trouble to.
Thus far to try thee, Adam, I was pleased. --Milton.
These are the times that try men's souls. --Thomas Paine (1776) [PJC]
5. To experiment with; to test by use; as, to try a remedy for disease; to try a horse.
Come, try upon yourselves what you have seen me. --Shak.
To ease her cares the force of sleep she tries. --Swift.
6. To strain; to subject to excessive tests; as, the light tries his eyes; repeated disappointments try one's patience.
7. (Law) To examine or investigate judicially; to examine by witnesses or other judicial evidence and the principles of law; as, to try a cause, or a criminal.
8. To settle; to decide; to determine; specifically, to decide by an appeal to arms; as, to try rival claims by a duel; to try conclusions.
Left I the court, to see this quarrel tried. --Shak.
9. To experience; to have or gain knowledge of by experience. --Milton.
Or try the Libyan heat or Scythian cold. --Dryden.
10. To essay; to attempt; to endeavor.
Let us try . . . to found a path. --Milton.
{To try on}. (a) To put on, as a garment, to ascertain whether it fits the person. (b) To attempt; to undertake. [Slang] --Dickens.
Syn: To attempt; endeavor; strive; aim; examine.
Usage: {Try}, {Attempt}. To try is the generic, to attempt is the specific, term. When we try, we are usually uncertain as to success; when we attempt, we have always some definite object in view which we seek to accomplish. We may be indifferent as to the result of a trial, but we rarely attempt anything without a desire to succeed.
He first deceased: she for a little tried To live without him; liked it not, and died. --Sir H. Wotton.
Alack, I am afraid they have a waked, And 't is not done. The attempt, and not the deed, Confounds us. --Shak.
Try \Try\, v. i. 1. To exert strength; to endeavor; to make an effort or an attempt; as, you must try hard if you wish to learn.
2. To do; to fare; as, how do you try! [Prov. Eng.]
Try \Try\, n. 1. A screen, or sieve, for grain. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] --Holland.
2. Act of trying; attempt; experiment; trial.
This breaking of his has been but a try for his friends. --Shak.
3. In Rugby and Northern Union football, a score (counting three points) made by grounding the ball on or behind the opponent's goal line; -- so called because it entitles the side making it to a place kick for a goal (counting two points more if successful). [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Try \Try\, a. [Cf. {Try}, v. t.] Refined; select; excellent; choice. [Obs.] ``Sugar that is try.'' --Chaucer.
Yet in Colorado, competing resorts have begun to pool resources to try to resolve their problems together.
The new transport and construction ministers meet often to try to co-ordinate policy in areas like urban development and infrastructure spending, where their departments were sometimes at loggerheads. This co-operation is the exception at the moment.
At the rear, tourists in swimsuits try on fur hats and winter coats.
Community involvement is another way companies try to hold themselves to their original vision.
They try hard." Mrs. Child and her husband of 41 years, Paul, divide their time between Massachusetts and Montecito, in the Santa Barbara area along the Southern California coast.
A coast guard helicopter plucked four men from the sea, two crewmen from the Majestic and two from the Mystic who had dived in to try to help their friends.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Pro-choice legislators want to try again to overturn an unenforced, century-old law making abortion a crime. Gov. Judd Gregg vetoed a similar bill this year.
'Concern about pollution makes scientists feel that we should try to find out what is there before it is destroyed.' Marine biotechnology is still in its infancy.
Their intentions, I think, were clear _ to try to decapitate the Cristiani government.
Instead, the IRS will try to close the cases with data it has and notify the filers that no other action is needed.
The intrepid Maxwell finally succeeded on the third try, getting the venerable publishing and information services giant for $2.5 billion in early November.
Although Unisys has made progress on other fronts and has reduced its debt by $300 million this year, it also said it is continuing to negotiate with its banks to try to get access to more funds.
I didn't try to hit the boy.
OPEC oil ministers today held a flurry of bargaining sessions to try to break a deadlock in negotiations for a new production and pricing agreement.
Bush said he would not try to assign blame for the problems at HUD.
Two weeks ago, Shamir proposed that the Egyptian leader meet with him on U.S. soil to try to find ways to resolve the Palestinian problem, but Mubarak turned him down, Pazner said.
'We have tested the database with some of our international collaborators but I guess it will take a few months before everyone gets used to it.' As a point of principle, Ceph and Genethon will not try to patent the map or any of the information in it.
"This is a bill to try to alleviate pain and suffering," he said.
Among Moslem rulers, the trend is to try to co-opt it.
Under Sanborn, Conrail had been expected to try to expand into such areas as hauling waste and already is carrying compacted refuse from northern New Jersey and the New York City area to eastern Ohio.
The fighting Saturday came on the third day of an offensive aimed at driving President Samuel Doe from power before a West African force arrives to try to end the 7-month-old civil war.
The package envisions establishing more than the single anti-missile site allowed under the 1972 pact, but delays the decision for at least several years and urges the president to try to renegotiate the pact in the meantime.
Mr. Lee is expected to try to do this at the ruling party's congress in July by persuading a sufficient number of elderly members of the KMT old guard to retire.
Rodolfo Biazon said an informant told the military the sabotage team would try to destroy fighter jets, fuel storage tanks and other equipment at the Basa air base, about 40 miles north of Manila.
Bargainers were gathering in the Capitol Sunday morning to try to nail down the final details of the agreement.
Another try may be made Monday.
Fighting inflation is Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's No. 1 economic priority and her Conservative government has increased interest rates to 15 percent to try an slow down demand.
If the findings look promising, "then the next step would be to try to reproduce the results elsewhere," he said.
Firefighters opened a vent on a blazing, overturned propane tanker Wednesday to try to speed up the burning of a fire that closed two highways and a commuter rail line for a second day, officials said.
The Pac Man defense is named after the video game in which characters try to eat other characters before they get eaten themselves.