I. at ‧ tempt 1 S2 W1 /əˈtempt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . an act of trying to do something, especially something difficult
attempt to do something
All attempts to control inflation have failed.
attempt at (doing) something
her feeble attempts at humour
at the first/second etc attempt
She passed her driving test at the first attempt.
2 . make no attempt to do something to not try to do something at all:
He made no attempt to hide his anger.
3 . an attempt on sb’s life an occasion when someone tries to kill a famous or important person:
She has already survived two attempts on her life.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ make an attempt
She made several attempts to escape.
▪ abandon/give up an attempt
They had to abandon their attempt to climb the mountain.
▪ fail/succeed in your attempt
He failed in his attempt to set a new Olympic record.
▪ foil/thwart an attempt formal (=make it fail)
Troops loyal to the general foiled the assassination attempt.
▪ an attempt fails/succeeds
All attempts to find a cure have failed.
■ adjectives
▪ on the first/second etc attempt ( also at the first/second etc attempt British English )
The car started at the second attempt.
▪ a vain attempt (=one that does not succeed)
They worked through the night in a vain attempt to finish on schedule.
▪ a desperate attempt (=that involves a lot of effort)
Doctors made a desperate attempt to save his life.
▪ a deliberate/conscious attempt
His question was a deliberate attempt to humiliate her.
▪ a serious/genuine attempt
This is the first serious attempt to tackle the problem.
▪ an unsuccessful/a successful attempt
an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government
▪ an abortive attempt formal (=unsuccessful)
They made an abortive attempt to keep the company going.
▪ a futile attempt (= certain to fail and not worth doing)
I jumped up and down in a futile attempt to keep warm.
▪ a doomed attempt (=certain to fail, and causing something very bad to happen)
His attempt to reach the Pole was doomed from the beginning.
▪ a brave/bold/gallant/valiant attempt approving (=one that you admire, but that is unsuccessful)
The previous government made a brave attempt to tackle the problem.
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She made a valiant attempt to continue playing, but the pain was too much.
▪ a blatant attempt disapproving (=when someone openly tries to do something bad)
It was a blatant attempt to hide the truth.
▪ a final/last attempt
They made one final attempt to make their marriage work.
▪ a last-ditch attempt (=a final attempt to achieve something before it is too late)
Negotiators are making a last-ditch attempt to save the agreement.
■ NOUN + attempt
▪ a rescue attempt
Two firefighters were hurt in the rescue attempt.
▪ an assassination attempt (=an attempt to kill a leader)
De Gaulle survived an assassination attempt in 1961.
▪ a suicide attempt (=an attempt to kill yourself)
He was admitted to hospital after a suicide attempt.
▪ a coup attempt (=an attempt to change the government, usually by force)
The US helped to crush the coup attempt.
II. attempt 2 S2 W2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: attemptare , from ad- 'to' + temptare 'to touch, try' ]
1 . to try to do something, especially something difficult
attempt to do something
In this chapter I will attempt to explain what led up to the revolution.
Weather conditions prevented them from attempting the jump.
2 . attempted murder/suicide/rape etc an act of trying to kill or harm someone, kill yourself etc:
He pleaded guilty to attempted murder.
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THESAURUS
▪ try to take action in order to do something that you may not be able to do:
I tried to explain what was wrong.
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He tries hard in class, but he’s finding the work difficult.
▪ attempt to try to do something, especially something difficult. Attempt is more formal than try and is used especially in written English:
Any prisoner who attempts to escape will be shot.
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He was attempting to climb one of the world’s highest mountains.
▪ do your best to try as hard as you can to do something:
We will do our best to help them.
▪ make an effort to do something to try to do something, when you find this difficult:
It is worth making an effort to master these skills.
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She made a big effort to be nice to him.
▪ struggle to try very hard to do something that is very difficult, especially for a long time:
She’s still struggling to give up smoking.
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Many of these families are struggling to survive.
▪ strive formal to try very hard to achieve something:
The company must constantly strive for greater efficiency.
▪ endeavour British English , endeavor American English /ɪnˈdevə $ -ər/ formal to try hard to do something:
Each employee shall endeavour to provide customers with the best service possible.
▪ have a go/try informal to try to do something, especially when you are not sure that you will succeed:
I’m not very good at fixing taps, but I’ll have a go.
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Do you want to have another try?
▪ see if you can do something spoken to try to do something – used when offering to do something, or suggesting that someone should do something:
I’ll see if I can get you a ticket.
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See if you can persuade her to come.