| 释义 |
▪ I. try, n.|traɪ|
[f. try v.]
I. An act of trying, etc.
†1. Naut. In phrase at try, a-try (see a-try), the position of a vessel lying-to in a storm; see try v. 17. Obs.
α1556W. Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 98 All the night [wee] laye at trie with much raine and foule weather. a1618Raleigh Royal Navy 12 We are forced to lye at trye with our maine Course and Missen. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 40 A storme let vs lie at Trie with our maine course, that is, to hale the tacke aboord, the sheat close aft, the boling set vp, and the helme tied close aboord. 1694Motteux Rabelais v. xviii. 80 Let us go and lye at Trie with our main Course.
β1558–89A. Jenkinson Voy. & Trav. (Hakl. Soc.) I. 96 There arose another great storme..and we lay a trie, being driuen farre into the sea. 1611–1867 [see a-try]. 1676Wood Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1694) 173 We lay a try under a Main-sail. 1729Capt. W. Wriglesworth MS. Log.-bk of the ‘Lyell’ 22 Dec., At 5 Reefed our Courses, furled the Fore Sail, brought to, and lay a try under Main Sail.
†2. A trial, a test. Obs. rare.
1607Shakes. Timon v. i. 11 Then this breaking of his, Ha's beene but a Try for his Friends?
3. Joinery. The condition of being ‘tried’ to a perfect level; cf. try v. 8.
1678Moxon Mech. Exerc. iv. 65 If your work be hollow in the middle, you must Plain both the Bearing sides thinner, till they come to a Try with the middle.
4. a. An attempt, endeavour, effort. Chiefly colloq.
1832Froude in Rem. (1838) I. 322 Versification is out of my line, else I should have had a try at it. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xxvii, Don't give it up..let's have a try for him. 1890Pall Mall G. 30 July 2/2 The Emperor..succeeded at the first try.
b. Rugby Football. The right of attempting to kick a goal, obtained by carrying the ball behind the goal-line and touching it on the ground. Cf. touch-down (touch- 2).
1845Rules Footb. Rugby School §5 Try at goal... The ball when punted must be within, when caught without, the line of goal. 1880Times 12 Nov. 4/5 The efforts of a worsted side..to gain the goal or the ‘try’ which is required to make the match a tie. 1893Ibid. 18 Dec. 10/3 The North were victors by two goals and two tries to three tries.
II. An instrument for trying.
†5. A sieve or sifting screen. Obs.
c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 808/14 Panducsator cum suis implementis... Hec falanga, a try. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 86 They will not passe thorough the holes of the sieve, ruddle, or trie, if they be narrow. 1644G. Plattes in Hartlib's Legacy (1655) 201 Mingling Corn with great Beans, exceeding hard dryed on a Kiln, which may be separated easily with a wire Trie. 1804Duncumb Hist. Hereford. Gloss., Try, a wire screen for cleansing wheat from the chaff.
†6. = trysail. Obs. rare—1.
1665–6Adm. Crt. Exam. 22 Mar. 66 A maine course or try.
III. 7. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 4 b) try-getter, try-getting, try-scorer, try-scoring.
1954J. B. G. Thomas On Tour iv. 43 The two wings, were the try-getters. 1977Western Mail (Cardiff) 5 Mar. 3/3 England could well feel the backlash of these frustrated Welsh try-getters.
1954J. B. G. Thomas On Tour 12 Without complete forward supremacy try-getting was like needle-hunting in the proverbial haystack.
1930Daily Express 8 Sept. 10/5 Try-scorers for the tourists in the first half were Rew and Jones-Davies. 1976Scotsman 27 Dec. 11/1 Earlier try-scorers for Gala were Gordon Dickson and George Telfer.
1974Times 4 Feb. 7/2 With try-scoring so difficult, Wales missed a golden opportunity of taking a decisive lead midway through the first half.
▪ II. † try, trie, a. Obs.
Forms: 3–5 trie, 4 tri, triȝe, 4–6 trye, 5, 7 try.
[ME. trie, etc., prob. a. OF. trié, pa. pple. of trier to pick out, cull, select (see try v.), or OF. trie n. choice, ‘élite’, used attrib.]
1. Choice, excellent, good; = tried ppl. a. 2.
a1300Sat. People Kildare xiv. in E.E.P. (1862) 155 Worþ hit wer þat he wer king Þat ditid þis trie þing. c1315Shoreham i. 1575 By-tuixe god and holy folk Loue hys wel trye and ryche. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. i. 135 Treuthe is tresore þe triest [v.rr. trieste, tryest, triȝest] on erþe. c1425Cast. Persev. 536 in Macro Plays 93 He schal be serwaunt good & try. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. ii. 26 Those hands of gold,..those feete of silver trye.
2. Joinery. Quite true, correctly wrought: cf. try n. 3, v. 8.
1678Moxon Mech. Exerc. vi. 101 If they can see light between the edge of the Rule and their Work: If they cannot they conclude their Work is Try, and well wrought.
Hence † ˈtryly, triely adv. Obs., choicely, excellently, finely.
c1350Will. Palerne 1228 Triliche was he a-tired in ful tristy armes. Ibid. 3198 Tvo baþes were boun by a litel while, & a-tired tryli to trusty trewe lordes. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 14, I seigh a toure on a toft trielich ymaked.
▪ III. try, v.|traɪ|
Forms: 4–6 tri, 4–7 trie, trye, (4 treye, trei), 5– try. Pa. tense and pple. tried |traɪd|; also 4 (pa. tense) triȝed, (pa. pple.) triȝede, i-triȝed, -et, ytried, ytryed, 5 y-tryid; 4–5 treid, tryyd, 4–6 tryede, 4–7 tryde, 4–9 tryed, 5 (tryude), triet, tryet (also 6 Sc.), 5–6 tryid, 6–7 tride, tryd, Sc. tryit, 7 tri'd, 7–8 try'd.
[a. OFr. trie-r (12th c., Benoit Ducs de Norm. ii. 11518 Le tort del dreit Trier e conoistre e sevrer (to sift and know and sever the wrong from the right) = Pr., Cat. triar, also med.L. triāre (from Prov. or Fr.) to sift or pick out. The legal use appears to have been developed in Anglo-French, where it is known c 1280; there is no trace of this use in continental French. The origin of the Fr. and Prov. word is unknown.
The conjecture of Frisch, mentioned by Diez and by Skeat, that it represents a late L. *trītāre to grind out, thresh out, freq. of terĕre, is incompatible with the Provençal form. Another conjecture is that it was a transposed form of tirer ‘to draw, extract’, in a specific sense; but evidence is wanting.]
1. a. trans. To separate (one thing) from another or others; to set apart; to distinguish. Often with out. Obs. or arch.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13260 Þey turnde ageyn, And tryde þe Bretons fro ilk Romeyn. 141326 Pol. Poems xii. 69 Til trouþe be fro treson tryed, Shal neuere be pes in regyon. c1515Cocke Lorells B. 13 With this man was a lusty company, For all raskyllers fro them they dyde trye. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 54 b, He [Henry VII] espyed and tried oute suche as he knewe..to beare no good wyll..towarde his person. 1592Warner Alb. Eng. vii. xxxvii. (1612) 180 For what is it but reason that humaine from brutish tries? [1847Bushnell Chr. Nurt. i. i. (1861) 11 Human children still living a mixed life, trying out the good and evil of the world.]
†b. To pick out, choose, select; pa. pple. (quot. 1340–70), selected, choice (cf. tried 2).
[1292Britton ii. xxvii. §5 Face le viscounte trier xii. prodeshommes.] 1340–70Alisaunder 1233 For too keepe in that kith cumlich & riche All his tresour ytryed. c1440Pallad. on Husb. iv. 727 The kiyn also this tyme hit is to trie; Do chese hem that be chested huge & hie. c1440Promp. Parv. 502/2 Tryin [v.r. tryyn], eligo, preeligo. 1481Coventry Leet Bk. 484 See that the seid persones so be [= by] you to be tried oute & chosen.
†2.
a. To separate the good part of a thing from the rest, esp. by sifting or straining; hence, to sift or strain. Usually with out. Obs.
1382[see tried 1]. c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 2071 Try out the corne clene from the chaff. c1430Two Cookery-bks. 11 Take ȝolkys of eyroun y-tryid fro þe whyte. 14..Noble Bk. Cookry (Napier 1882) 90 Put it to gedur with a crust of bred and try it through a strener. 1548Udall Erasm. Par. Pref. 10 The boulter tryeth out the branne. 1581W. Stafford Exam. Compl. ii. (1876) 51 What neede they..to trie out the sandes of the ryuers of Tagus in Spaine, Pactolus in Asia, and Ganges in India, to get..small sparkes of gold. 1657C. Beck Univ. Char. L viij, To trye, or fine from the dreggs. 1790W. Marshall Midl. Co. (1796) II. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Try, v. to skreen.
b. gen. To take or get out, to extract; also, in extended sense, To put into, insert. Obs. rare.
c1440Pallad. on Husb. ii. 165 Impedymentis, rootis out thou trie. Ibid. 263 Aysell and wyne eke oute of hem men trie, As oute of peres. Ibid. iii. 639 Wild asperages rootes many trie Into erthe ytilde. Ibid. xii. 94 The boones..in askes moolde Thay mynge, and it thai into skeppes trie.
†3. spec. To separate (metal) from the ore or dross by melting; to refine, purify by fire; also, to remove (the dross or impurity) from metal by fire. Usually with out. Also fig. Obs.
13..[see tried 1]. 1524in Acts Parlt. Scotl. (1875) XII. 41/1 Þe gold gais furth of þe sammyn [realm] in greit quantite becaus it is tryit to ane hieare price and valoure in vþir realmis. 1535Coverdale Zech. xiii. 9, I..will clense them, as the syluer is clensed: Yee and trye them, like as golde is tryed. 1539Bible (Great) Ps. xxvi. 2 Examen me, o Lord, & proue me: trie out my reynes and my hert. 1545Elyot, Chalcites, a stone..wherof brasse is tried. 1555Inv. Ch. Goods (Surtees No. 97) 152 So moche refuse and baggaige tried out, by meane of the melting of the said plate. 1572Pat. Roll 14 Eliz. xii. m. 22 (P.R.O.) Thomas Smyth..hath..founde out and put in vse a newe and certene arte to trye out and make of yron verye true perfytt and good copper. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ix. 63 The fier seauen times tried this, Seauen times tried that iud[g]ement is, That did neuer choose amis. 1686W. Harris tr. Lemery's Course Chym. Introd. (ed. 3) 44 Coppels are porous vessels made in form of a cup to be used for the trying and purifying of Gold and Silver.
4. a. To extract (oil) from blubber or fat by heat; to melt down (blubber, etc.), to obtain the oil; to render; also, to extract (wax) from a honey-comb. Usually with out.
1582in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 423 No chaundeler shall..trie or melt any tallowe wthin the walles. 1610P. Barrough Meth. Physick iii. lxii. (1639) 198 Oile tried out of wooll in sheeps flanks or necks. 1630J. Levett Ord. Bees (1634) 51 After what manner doe you deale with your Combes to try out the waxe. 1852Mundy Our Antipodes viii. (1855) 195 A dead whale was..‘tried out’ by some speculating fisherman. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To try down, to boil out the oil from blubber at sea in whalers. 1883A. Shea Newfound. Fisheries 10 (Fish. Exhib. Publ.) The fat is then cut up,..and tried out by steam.
b. intr. for pass. U.S.
1891Cent. Dict. s.v., Grease tries out of a ham in cooking;..the perspiration is trying out of him.
5.
†a. trans. To ascertain, find out (something doubtful, obscure, or secret) by search or examination; to sift out. Usually to try out. Obs.
[Cf.c1300–25N. Bozon Contes Moral. (1889) 9 La cause [of the attraction of the loadstone] ne peut estre triée. ]
c1325Metr. Hom. 56 Yef we wil the sothe treye, Gon we til dom of our Leuedye. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas i. viii. (MS. Bodl. 263) lf. 36/1 But folke that list off daunger hem discharge..Til the trouthe be tried out in deed. 1567Satir. Poems Reform. iii. 92 Tresoun to try sho was that tyme maist stout But sho is slak to try this tresoun out. 1584Cogan Haven Health (1636) 9 By this meanes doth Galen trie out the time most fit for exercise. 1675tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. (1688) 129 They all agreed on this, that Lidington..should first try the Queens mind. a1761Law Comf. Weary Pilgr. (1809) 52 This therefore may serve as a touch⁓stone wherby every one may try the truth of his state.
†b. With material object. Obs. rare—1.
1539Pollard, etc. in St. Papers Hen. VIII (1830) I. 619 We have dayly fownde and tryede oute bothe money and plate, hyde and muryde up in walls, vauttis and other secrette placis.
c. To ascertain the truth or right of (a matter, a quarrel, etc.) by test or endeavour; with out, to thrash or fight out; to determine. Now rare.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 163 b, To trye y⊇ mater wt dynte of swearde. 1545Elyot, Disceptare armis, to trye by battayle. 1654R. Codrington tr. Justine xi. 298 He was enforced by them to try it out in battel with them. 1703Pope Thebais 490 The rushing winds..With equal rage their airy quarrel try, And win by turns the Kingdoms of the sky. 1857Trollope Barchester T. xxiii, Mr. Arabin said that he would try the question out with Mrs Bold.
d. to try out: to test the advantages, possibilities, or qualities of (a material or immaterial thing); also, to test (a person). orig. U.S.
1888Judge (N.Y.) 29 Dec. 190/1 Tried Out By Fire. 1899N.Y. Jrnl. 30 July 34/6 Britain will try out heavy motor wagons. 1906N.Y. Evening Post 26 Oct. 1 The new rules have been but partially tried out. 1974A. Price Other Paths to Glory iii. 254 He was being tried out on someone else's problem.
6. Law. To examine and determine (a cause or question) judicially; to determine the guilt or otherwise of (an accused person) by consideration of the evidence; to sit in judgement on; to judge. Also fig. † Also intr. with of (quot. c 1330). (Prob. the earliest sense recorded in English.)
a. To try a cause or question.
[1292Britton i. v. §8 Et si n'i eynt mie asez, si soint les chalengs triez. Et si les chalengs soint trovez verrays [etc.]. ]a1300Cursor M. 9686 (Cott.) Al þat þai striue a-mang þam thre, Thoru pes it agh at tried be. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 313 The wisest of þe clergie, with erles & barouns Togider went to trie of þer peticions. 1467in Eng. Gilds (1870) 401 To trye it by xij. men aftur the lawe in suche case provided. 1562Aberdeen Kirk Sess. Rec. (Spald. Cl.) 4 To trye, discusse, and examyn all faltis and offencis..off the haill inhabitantis off the burgh. a1631Donne Poems (1650) 103 This will be tryed to morrow. 1755W. Duncan Cicero's Sel. Orations x. (1816) 307 He..may desire to know what crime it is that is trying. 1770C. Jenner Placid Man vi. iv, Whilst the..cause had been trying at Mrs. Stapleton's fire-side [etc.]. 1815Scott Guy M. xxxiii, It was tried in the Inner-house afore the Feifteen. 1892Sir A. Kekewich in Law Times Rep. LXVII. 139/1, I have to try the case before me according to those cases. 1895Daily News 4 Nov. 4/6 Mr. Justice Mathew, who tried the action,..had granted the injunction.
b. To try a person.
1538Elyot, Interrogari legibus, to be tried by examination, that they had offended against the lawis. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. i. 21 The Iury..May in the sworne-twelue haue a thiefe, or two Guiltier then him they try. 1674in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 317 Judg Torner's son, who was tryed for his life last November for killing a man. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xvi, You must be tried before you are condemned. 1849Cupples Green Hand ix, A gang o' Spanish pirates I saw tried for their lives. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 450 Let him who dares to smite an elder be tried for assault.
c. To submit (a case) for the judgment of a court of law. U.S.
1905S. W. Mitchell Constance Trescot 166 ‘Do you still feel that all chance of settlement is out of the question?’ ‘Yes; I am instructed to try the case.’ 1931N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 22 This is one of his jokes; he knows I can't afford to try criminal cases. It's been fifteen years since I've been in a criminal court.
7. a. To test the strength, goodness, value, truth, or other quality of; to put to the proof, test, prove.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 311 To leue no tale be true to tryȝe, Bot þat hys one skyl may dem. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 183 Whan alle tresouris arn triȝede [83 I-triȝed] treuþ e is þe beste. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 188 No word Sholde out-Passe, but yf hit were triet wyth reyson. a1536Tindale Expos. Matt. vi. (1550) 65 b, Excepte a man be proued and tried it cannot be knowen..that he is righteous. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. iii. 62 The friends thou hast, and their adoption tride, Grapple them to thy Soule, with hoopes of Steele. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Man of Many Fr. (Colburn) 157 Jumping and bumping himself about in Colonel Arden's new carriage in order to try the springs. 1881Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. ii. v. 230 He..had determined to try every fact..by the strict rules of inductive science.
b. To examine (a person) for the purpose of testing his qualifications: cf. trial n.1 6, trier 5. Obs. or Hist.
1636in J. Bulloch Pynours (1887) 70 In cais any persone..desyr to be admittit a laborar at the Shoir..they must first be tryit be the watter Baillie. 1654Clarke Papers (Camden) III. 15 Those that sitte at Whitehall to try Ministers.
†c. to try out: to reject after trial; in quot., to dismiss (a challenged juryman): cf. trier 2.
1542–3Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 26 §46 If..the residue of the saide Iurye make defaulte or be tryed out.
d. to try a door, window, etc., to ascertain by attempting to open it whether it is fastened or locked.
1844Dickens Chimes i. 2 The night-wind..trying, with its unseen hand, the windows and the doors; and seeking out some crevice by which to enter. 1889Gunter That Frenchman iv, Maurice..closes the door behind him, trying it to be sure the spring lock has worked.
e. To put (a person) to the test to ascertain the truth of what is asserted or believed of him or her. Freq. in imp. try me.
1970V. Canning Great Affair xi. 193 ‘You'll not like it.’ ‘Try me.’ 1971Scope (S. Afr.) 19 Mar. 124/2 ‘Miss Blandish..ahem..I take it that you can keep a secret?’ ‘Try me, Mr Stone.’ Her voice was like a soft caress. Her suggestion to ‘try her’ scared J. B. 1984A. Price Sion Crossing vi. 106 ‘I think maybe you won't like it, Oliver.’.. ‘Try me.’
8. Joinery. To bring (a piece of timber) to a perfectly flat surface by repeatedly testing it and planing off the projecting parts; to plane with the trying-plane; also to try up; also, to test the straightness of (a planed surface) or the correspondence of (adjoining surfaces); intr. (of a surface) to prove accurate or straight when tested.
1593T. Fale Dialling 2 Prepare a piece of very good wood, try it perfectly on both sides to an equall thicknesse. 1678Moxon Mech. Exerc. iv. 60 To lay Boards..flat against, whiles they are Trying or Plaining. Ibid. v. 78 Try it again, as before, and if you find it Try all the way, you may..go over it again. 1679Ibid. ix. 156 Try one side flat,..and both the edges straight. 1683Ibid., Printing x. ⁋2 All its Sides are tryed square to one another. 1776G. Semple Building in Water 85 After your Work is tried up or even put together. 1828Adcock Builders' Pocket-Bk. 52 Swedish deals.., if tried up square at night they will be crooked in the morning.
9. try on: to test the fit or style of (a garment) by putting it on. Also absol.
1693Congreve Old Bach. iv. viii, The daughters only tore two pair of kid-leather gloves, with trying 'em on. 1804M. Edgeworth Pop. T., The Will ii, Miss Barton was trying on her dress. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xiii, He..tried a new coat in Pall Mall. 1883Harper's Mag. Feb. 446/1 She must go at once and ‘try on!’ It is a special order.
10. To subject to a severe test or strain; to strain the endurance or patience of, put to straits, afflict.
1539Bible (Great) Hebr. xi. 36 Other were tried wt mockynges & scourgynges, moreouer, wt bondes & presonment. [Cf. 3.] 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 156 A syde wynde tryeth an archer and good gere verye muche. 1702R. Nelson in Pepys' Diary, etc. (1879) VI. 257 If the Providence of God thinks fit to try you with the want of both. 1824Byron Juan xvi. l, Her temper had been tried So much. 1825Baroness Bunsen in Hare Life (1879) I. vii. 248 She has been tried in life more hardly than anybody whose..history I ever yet heard. 1859Macaulay in Trevelyan Life & Lett. (1876) II. xv. 470 This malady tries me severely. 1905E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 142 You look very pale, child—the journey has tried you probably.
11. a. To test the effect or operation of; to use, apply, or practise tentatively or by way of experiment; to experiment with. try an experiment: to make an experiment; to do something in order to see what will come of it, or whether it produces the expected result.
to try conclusions, try a fall, try masteries: see the ns.
1545Primer Hen. VIII (1546) 126 Try not the lawe with thy seruaunt. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 24 He that of wilfulnes trieth the law, Shall striue for a coxcome, and thriue as a daw. 1625Bacon Ess., Innovations (Arb.) 527 It is good also, not to try Experiments in States. 1676Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 29 Lady Portsmouth continues sicke, and some say she will try the French ayre, others the Bath watters. 1701in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 302, I wish you would try Smith and Walford for Cowper's Anatomy, and the Philosophical Transactions. 1702Eng. Theophrast. 170 Those that will be trying masteries with their superiors. 1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vii. 246, I have tried fishing to-day, as I dare not fire a shot for fear of frightening the elephants. 1875Jevons Money (1878) 246 The United States government tried a similar experiment.
b. To experiment upon (with something); to test the effect of something upon.
1784Cowper in Gentl. Mag. LIV. i. 413/1 By..trying him with a variety of herbs [I] restored him to perfect health.
c. absol. or intr. To make experiment; † in quot. ? to practise.
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 60 Dank ling forgot will quickly rot. Here learne and trie to turne it and drie.
d. to try (one's) hand, to attempt to do something for the first time; to test one's ability or aptitude at something.
1711Shaftesbury Charac. i. i. (1737) I. 156 Who will willingly be the first to try our Hand. 1768Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 384 Why should I be debarred the liberty of trying my hand as well as another? 1809W. Irving Knickerb. v. iii. (1849) 271 He determined to try his hand at negotiation. 1896N. York Weekly Witness 30 Dec. 13/1 He prayed to be permitted to try his hand at spellbinding.
e. To test the effect of (a thing) on (a person, thing, etc.). to try it on the (or a) dog: to test the effectiveness of something on someone regarded as being of lesser consequence than those for whom it is ultimately intended; Theatr., to test the possibilities of a play, etc., by performing it as a matinée or before a provincial audience. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1890in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 377/1 ‘Bootle's Baby’ will on the 7th of May be produced somewhere in the provinces. This is what the Americans call trying it on a dog. 1897Daily Tel. 4 Feb. 9/1 If any enterprising person desires to make money from a play or a composition of music he does not boldly attempt the experiment upon the public. His shrewd suspicion that they would avenge the torture induces him to adopt the preliminary precaution of ‘trying it on the dog’—a creature of delicate susceptibilities, and very amenable to the influences of Teutonic bands and street-corner cornet solos. 1903[see 15 b below]. 1922H. Crane Let. 29 Sept. (1965) 101, I want to try Dial [a literary review] on ‘F and H’, before it goes anywhere else. 1941G. Heyer Envious Casca xiv. 261 Mathilda had never felt less inclined to listen to a dissertation on the benefits of experience to an actress, and she very rudely told Paula to try it on the dog.
f. to try in (Dentistry): to place (a denture or prosthesis) in the patient's mouth to test the fit. [From the prepositional use illustrated in quot. 1896.]
[1896C. J. Essig Amer. Textbk. Prosthetic Dentistry xi. 408 After the teeth of a full upper denture have been tried in the mouth and found to be correct, a protective rim is to be made.] 1921D. Gabell Prosthetic Dentistry viii. 199 The dentures should be placed in tepid water with some pleasant antiseptic,..and then each separately tried in. 1968Neill & Nairn Compl. Denture Prosthetics 101/2 When trying in the waxed-up dentures initially the opportunity is taken to..check the jaw relationships.
g. try anything once: a cliché indicating (often somewhat unexpected) willingness on the part of a speaker to attempt or experience something new.
1921Ladies' Home Jrnl. July 20/1 This slogan runs, ‘Try anything once’. 1959N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 160 ‘I am sort of curious about the film. I've never seen one [sc. a pornographic film], you know.’ ‘Try anything once, is that it?’
h. try-your-strength, try-your-weight: used attrib. to designate an apparatus at a fair or the like which tests or measures a person's strength or weight.
1929J. B. Priestley Good Companions i. iv. 135 One o' these try-your-strength things..—down with the 'ammer and up she goes and rings the bell. 1930R. Lehmann Note in Music v. 214 A try-your-strength machine that gave him his money back. 1932Radio Times 29 July 241/1 Everything to make them feel at home..try-your-weight machines, ‘diddlers’, peeps-at-Paris. 1963Wodehouse Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves iii. 24 There was plenty and to spare of the Rev. H. P. Pinker. Even as a boy..he must have burst seams and broken try-your-weight machines. 1977‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon vi. 97, I want to try the Try-Your-Strength machine.
12. To endeavour to ascertain by experiment or effort; to attempt to find out; sometimes nearly = sense 11.
a. with simple obj. (usually fortune, luck, or the like).
1573[see fortune n. 3 c]. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 59 If he had but thirtie thousand good foote⁓men..he could willingly haue found in his hart to trie his fortune with this enemie. 1741S. Speed in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 398 We shall go to Jamaica,..and try our luck once more. 1838De Morgan Ess. Probabilities i. 21 They think they are trying their luck, as the phrase is. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 202 He tried the effects of frowns and menaces. 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay x, I have not yet been accepted. I have not even tried my chance. 1902A. E. W. Mason Four Feathers viii, If he tried his luck with Miss Eustace.
b. with indirect interrogative clause (how, if, what, whether, etc.).
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. ii. 17 Ile trie how you can Sol, Fa, and sing it. c1643Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 20 Many ships scattering themselves to try whether they could obtain a prize. 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. xii. 208 Try how the Centers are pitcht, by Treading the Treddle lightly down. a1700in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (1911) IX. 341 To trie what effects her Maiestys example might have on others. 1819in Shelley Mem. (1859) 126 Let you and I try if we cannot be as punctual and businesslike as the best of them.
13. To show or find to be so by test or experience; to prove, demonstrate. (With simple obj., obj. cl., inf., or obj. and compl.) Now rare or Obs.
c1412[see tried 3]. c1500in I. S. Leadam Star Chamb. Cases (1903) 101 He wold not take oon peny of him Except his right were tryed good. a1553Udall Royster D. v. i. (Arb.) 79 She may hir selfe discharge and trie hir honestie. 1589Whip for Ape A 2, Sometimes his choppes doo walke in poynts too hie, Wherein the Ape himselfe a Woodcocke tries. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. iii. 29 He hath still beene tried a holy man. 1642Declar. Lords & Comm. 2 Sept. 5 Fasting and Prayer having bin often tryed to be very effectuall. 1892J. Kent Racing Life Ld. G. Cavendish Bentinck 47 Lord George Cavendish tried Godolphin to be a good horse.
†14. To have experience of; to undergo, go through. Obs.
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 84 The quiet life which I haue tryed being a mayden. 1625Gill Sacr. Philos. Pref., That treatise tryed the common fortune of all bookes; some slighted..others condemned it. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 860 Never more Mean I to trie what rash untri'd I sought, The paine of absence from thy sight. 1738Gray Propertius ii. v. 39 Or if, alas! it be my Fate to try Another Love.
15. a. To test one's ability to deal with (something); to attempt to do, perform, or accomplish (an action); to venture upon, to essay. to try over, to go through (a performance, etc.) experimentally.
c1315Shoreham i. 1290 Nou ich habbe of þe ferste yteld, Þat oþer wyl ich trye. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxvii. 1 Nixt that a turnament wes tryid That lang befoir in hell wes cryid. 1607T. Walkington Opt. Glass 83 b, This little barke.., which neuer tryed the foming maine beforne. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 12 All kind of worke seemeth to be hard before we doe try it. 1812J. Wilson Isle of Palms ii. 489 The boat hath left the lonesome rock And tries the wave again. 1870Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. i. 176 Fancy a parody of Shakespeare... You might as well try it with the Venus of Melos. Mod. I should like to try it over first.
b. try it on (with play on sense 9): to attempt an imposition; to endeavour to outwit or get the better of some one (usu. const. with); spec. in Thieves' Cant, to live by thieving. slang.
1811Lex. Balatr., Try on, to endeavour. To live by thieving. Coves who try it on; professed thieves. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 284 Witness agreed to try it on again although he considered himself in danger. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxxiv, No jokes, old boy: no trying it on me. 1903Farmer & Henley Slang s.v., To try it on, to seek to outwit, get the better of, fleece, cheat... To try it on a dog = to experiment at another's expense or risk. 1912Oxf. & Camb. Rev. Nov. 14 If he tries it on, the audience..is ready to convince him of his mistake.
16. a. intr. To make an effort, endeavour, attempt. (With inf., or absol.)
1638[implied in trial n.1 8]. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 355 To repair his Strength he tries: Hardning his Limbs with painful Exercise. 1738Gray Propertius iii. 23 While to retain the envious Lawn she tries. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest iv, You will have to try and try again. 1895Pall Mall G. 7 Oct. 1/3 England..has tried her best to head him off the path down which he seems determined to rush. 18..Pop. Melody, If at first you don't succeed, Try, try, try again.
b. Followed by and and a co-ordinated verb (instead of to with inf.) expressing the action attempted. colloq. Cf. and B. 10.
1686J. S[ergeant] Hist. Monast. Convent 9 They try and express their love to God by their thankfulness to him. 1802H. Martin Helen of Glenross II. 143 Frances retired, to try and procure a little rest. 1819,1878[see and B. 10]. 1855in Coleridge Mem. Keble (1869) II. 425, I have something to write to you on that matter, which I shall try and put on another piece of paper. 1883L. Oliphant Altiora Peto I. 251 He had good reason to think that Sark was likely to try and back out.
c. Const. with preposition. try for, to attempt to obtain or find (an object), or to reach (a place). try at, to make an attempt upon, endeavour to get at; to attempt to do or accomplish.
1534in I. S. Leadam Sel. Cas. Crt. Requests (Selden Soc.) 43 Your sayd humble subgett is a very powre man and nott able to trye for his sayd libertie..by the ordre of the comen lawe. 1653Caldwell Papers (Maitl. Cl.) I. 108 Quhen he went to search and try for the lard's hors yt was stollen. 1763[see for prep. 12]. 1794C. Smith Wand. Warwick 195 Xaviera..seemed, by an effort of resolution, to try at conquering her confusion. 1816Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire i. (1818) 10 The sea being much discoloured, we tried for soundings, but did not get bottom with 120 fathoms of line. 1913Illustr. Lond. News 16 Aug. 266/2 On three occasions he made some show of trying for a degree, and between times attended as few lectures as he could.
d. intr. and trans. To search a place in order to find something, esp. game, or its scent. colloq.
1810Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 233 He bid the other defendants try across the Six Acres. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 125 Bees in every peep did try. 1827G. A. McCall Lett. fr. Frontiers (1868) 178 The Colonel had directed Maximo to bring..all..appliances for hunting the green turtle; and the latter..was thus early in motion to ‘try’ after turtle. 1909Toilers of Deep Oct. 246/1 Frequently they ‘try a piece’, as fishing parlance has it.
e. intr. try back: to go back (lit. or fig.) so as to cover ground afresh where something has previously been missed; to ‘hark back’.
1816Knox & Jebb Corr. II. 273 At college, I was obliged to try back in mathematics. Through daily life, I am obliged to try back in minor morals. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. vii, They tried back slowly and sorrowfully, and found the lane. 1863G. J. Whyte-Melville Gladiators 233 Like a hound..now trying back with untiring perseverance. 1874R. Tyrwhitt Sketch. Club 3 To get people to see when their work won't do, and to try back and attempt simpler things.
f. trans. To attempt or solicit (a woman); to endeavour to seduce; also of a stallion, to attempt to cover (a mare).
1713Lady M. W. Montagu Lady's Resolve, In part she is to blame that has been try'd; He comes too near, that comes to be deny'd. 1811Sporting Mag. XXXVIII. 212 The horse took as much pains to try the mare as any stallion.
†17. Naut. intr. Of a vessel: To lie to. (See quot. 1867.) Also, to try a-hull. Obs.
The meaning in first quot. is doubtful.
[1533J. Heywood Play Wether (1903) 572 The see..Where shyppes by meane of wynd try from port to porte.] 1556in Hakluyt Voy. (1598) I. 277 When the barke had way, we cut the hawser, and so gate the sea to our friend, and tryed out al that day with our maine corse. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. i. 37 Downe with the top-Mast: yare, lower, lower, bring her to Try with Maine-course. 1725H. de Saumarez in Phil. Trans. XXXIII. 427 We had hard Gales..and a distracted Sea, insomuch that we try'd under a double reef'd Mainsail, great Part of the Time. 1773Life N. Frowde 122 We were obliged..to ly too, and let the Ship drive with the Tempest, and at length, to try a Hull. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Try, or Lie-to in a Gale, is by a judicious balance of canvas, to keep a ship's bow to the sea, and..prevent her rolling to windward in the trough of a sea. |