attempts

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of attempt.

   All her attempts to fix the engine failed, so she called a mechanic.

   The committee rejected three separate attempts to amend the bylaws.

   Note

   A regular plural, made by adding -s, and it carries every sense of the noun: repeated tries, but also assaults, failed efforts at a crime, and suicide attempts. Context usually settles which one is meant. The same spelling also serves as the verb's present-tense form, and grammar tells them apart: after a number or determiner it is the noun, while after a singular subject it is the present-tense verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of attempt.

   The software automatically attempts a reconnection when the signal drops.

   Each spring, the salmon attempts the long journey upstream to spawn.

   Note

   Two constructions can follow it: a direct object (attempts a reconnection, attempts the journey) or a to-infinitive (attempts to reconnect). Older English gave the verb more force, using it for attacking, for trying to take by force, and for trying to overcome. Earlier still it meant tempting. Those uses are now archaic or obsolete, so the modern verb simply means trying. For the shared spelling, see the noun plural.

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