# attempt

Pronunciation: US say "uh-TEMPT" /əˈtɛmpt/; UK

## Noun

1. An act or effort directed at doing or achieving something.
   - Simple: An effort to do or achieve something.
   - _His attempt to break the record fell just short._
   - _Repeated attempts to reach the office by phone all failed._
3. In criminal law, a substantial effort toward committing a crime that falls short of completing it.
   - Simple: A serious but failed try to commit a crime.
   - _Under the law of attempt, prosecutors must show that the defendant went beyond mere planning and took a substantial step toward the crime._
   - _The statute punishes attempts as well as completed offenses._
4. An assault or attack on someone, especially an effort to assassinate a public figure.
   - Simple: A violent attack meant to hurt or kill someone, often an important person.
   - _The failed attempt on the president drew worldwide attention._
   - _Historians still debate who organized the attempt against the duke._
5. An act in which a person tries to take their own life.
   - Simple: An act of trying to end one's own life.
   - _After a suicide attempt in college, she worked with a therapist and now speaks openly about getting help._
   - _Crisis hotlines work to prevent attempts before they happen._

## Verb

2. To make an effort to do or achieve something, whether or not it succeeds.
   - Simple: To try to do something.
   - _Climbers attempt the summit only in clear weather._
   - _He attempted to explain the misunderstanding calmly._

## Verb

6. To attack a person or place, trying to overcome, win, or take it by force. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To attack someone or something and try to beat it or take it.
7. To try to move or sway someone through entreaty, suffering, or temptation; to tempt. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To try to sway someone by pleading or by tempting them.

## Origin

First recorded in the late 14th century as Middle English attempten, this word came from Old French atempter, from Latin attemptō ("I try, solicit"), formed from ad ("to") plus temptare ("to try"). The noun dates from the 1530s, and the sense of an assault on someone's life or assassination attempt (French attentat) appeared in 1580.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/attempt (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).