1
as in tries
an effort to do or accomplish something
it took several attempts before we made good ice cream with an old-fashioned hand-cranked ice cream freezer
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2
as in attacks
the act or action of setting upon with force or violence
several attempts on the life of the country's chief drug enforcement official
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in strives
to make an effort to do
after attempting—and failing—to start the lawn mower on my own, I finally succeeded with a neighbor's help don't even attempt walking on your broken foot
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Recent Examples of attempts
Tim Casey, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024
But this is a Hollywood biopic that attempts to cram a very intense four-year period of history into a two-hour-and-21-minute movie.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 11 Dec. 2024
Video games have always been a scapegoat Even though Mangione was clearly, at one point in his life, a regular gamer, attempts to connect his gaming history with the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO are tenuous at best.
—Alyssa Mercante, Rolling Stone, 10 Dec. 2024
And, in the present day, the family attempts to keep the tradition alive — even without Jack.
—Allison Sadlier, EW.com, 26 Nov. 2024
Washington also had to settle for four field goal attempts, including once on a drive that made it into the red zone.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
Three attempts to capture author James Patterson’s massive Alex Cross thriller franchise flopped on the big screen.
—Ronda Racha Penrice, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
The standard approach is to have bidders submit all their bids — including package bids — to the auctioneer, who then attempts to piece them together and accept those bids that together maximize auction revenue.
—London School Of Economics, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
Verb
And kicker Mitch Jeter, who had missed half of his 12 field goal attempts and battled injuries this season, made two of his three kicks on Friday, including a 49-yarder with seven seconds remaining in the first half that put Notre Dame ahead 17-3 at halftime.
—Tim Casey, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024
But this is a Hollywood biopic that attempts to cram a very intense four-year period of history into a two-hour-and-21-minute movie.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 11 Dec. 2024
Video games have always been a scapegoat Even though Mangione was clearly, at one point in his life, a regular gamer, attempts to connect his gaming history with the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO are tenuous at best.
—Alyssa Mercante, Rolling Stone, 10 Dec. 2024
And, in the present day, the family attempts to keep the tradition alive — even without Jack.
—Allison Sadlier, EW.com, 26 Nov. 2024
Washington also had to settle for four field goal attempts, including once on a drive that made it into the red zone.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
Three attempts to capture author James Patterson’s massive Alex Cross thriller franchise flopped on the big screen.
—Ronda Racha Penrice, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
The standard approach is to have bidders submit all their bids — including package bids — to the auctioneer, who then attempts to piece them together and accept those bids that together maximize auction revenue.
—London School Of Economics, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Attempts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/attempts. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
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