(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ to do something, especially something difficult, you try to do it.
The only time that we ~ed to do something like that was in the city of Philadelphia...
Before I could ~ a reply he added over his shoulder: ‘Wait there.’
VERB: V to-inf, V n
2.
If you make an ~ to do something, you try to do it, often without success.
...a deliberate ~ to destabilise the defence...
It was one of his rare ~s at humour.
N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N to-inf
3.
An ~ on someone’s life is an ~ to kill them.
...an ~ on the life of the former Iranian Prime Minister.
N-COUNT: N on n