attempt
part of speech
verb (attempt, attempts, attempted, attempting); noun (an attempt, attempts)
meaning for a pupil
1) To try to do something, especially something difficult. tree →
2) (noun) An act of trying. tree →
3) (noun) A try to do something in a sport or a record (a world record attempt). tree →
4) «An attempt on someone's life»: trying to kill someone. tree →
sense in the lessons
In exams, «attempt all questions» means try every question. In sport and maths, number of attempts versus successes (scored 6 goals in 10 attempts). In stories, characters attempt brave things. Phrases: «make an attempt», «at the first attempt», «attempt to», «in an attempt to».
examples
- But every attempt to unfold this mystery has hitherto been unsuccessful". (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- Attempt all the questions on the paper. tree →
- She passed her swimming test at the first attempt. tree →
- He scored 7 goals from 10 attempts. tree →
- The climbers attempted to reach the top. tree →
- In an attempt to win, she ran faster. tree →
- My first attempt at a cake was a disaster! tree →
- They made a world record attempt. tree →
- Do not attempt too much at once. tree →
note
Formal for «try». «Attempt to do» or «attempt + noun». In maths: success rate = successes ÷ attempts (7 out of 10 attempts = 70%); failed attempts = attempts − successes.
In the corpora
- That is a good phonics attempt, not a silly one.
- "Trying for a baby" means attempting to get pregnant.
- Kublai Khan's fleets twice tried to invade Japan, in 1274 and 1281, and both attempts failed, partly because of storms.
- Some philosophers say tricky true words are better than a lie; others say any attempt to mislead is the same wrong.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «attempt» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.