try

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   melt (fat or lard) in order to separate out impurities

   try the yak butter

2. 2
   verb

   test the limits of

   You are trying my patience!

3. 3
   verb

   To attempt; to endeavour. Followed by infinitive.

   I tried to rollerblade, but I couldn’t.

4. 4
   verb

   To divide; to separate.

   […]euery feend his buſie paines applyde, / To melt the golden metall, ready to be tryde.

5. 5
   verb

   To test, to work out.

   I tried mixing more white paint to get a lighter shade.

6. 6
   verb

   To experiment, to strive.

   […]try the Lybian Heat, or Scythian Cold.

7. 7
   verb

   To strain; to subject to excessive tests.

   The light tries his eyes.

8. 8
   verb

   To want, to desire.

   I am really not trying to hear you talk about my mama like that.

Etymology

From Middle English trien (“to separate out, sift, choose, select, evaluate, try a legal case”), from Anglo-Norman trier, triher, triere (“to divide, separate, choose, select, prove, determine, try a case”), Old French trier (“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Occitan triar (“to choose, sort, scrutinise, peel”), Catalan triar (“to pick, choose, decide”). Suggested to be derived from Late Latin *trītāre (“to crush, grind, trample, wear out”), itself derived from Classical Latin trītus (“rubbed, worn down, pulverised”), the past particip…