attempts 1 of 2

plural of attempt

attempts

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of attempt
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of attempts
Noun
Last weekend in Highland, Michigan, Rogers dismissed El-Sayed's attempts to whittle away at his GOP base of support. — Aaron Navarro, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026 Proposition 132 attempts to address these concerns by stiffening legal penalties. — Joshua Barocas, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2026 For a three month period in 2023, all attempts by John Amos’ family to contact the actor were blocked, the lawsuit says. — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026 Conservative lawyer Michael Edney cast the move in a long line of other attempts to pare back statutes from that era. — Carrie Johnson, NPR, 16 Oct. 2026 But as Ohtani battled nagging pain in his left knee and a recurring problem with his right biceps, the team didn’t shut down his attempts to return to pitching until the end of August. — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026 Every one of those attempts to gate knowledge failed and hurt the gaters more than the gated. — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026 The first attempts at a foldable smartphone in the 2010s from other companies tended to be fragile and not all that useful, with a big, ugly crease in the center interrupting the experience. — Andrew R. Chow, Time, 15 Oct. 2026 Samuel’s return has factored in pretty heavily there, thanks to his 74 yards on just seven attempts. — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 9 Oct. 2026
Verb
Previous attempts to retrieve bodies at such high altitudes have been called off because of the risk of death to the rescuers. — Helen Regan, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2026 One sailor’s father brushed aside reports about the suicide attempts. — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 8 Oct. 2026 At work, Satoko attempts to create a campaign for a new Korean baseball drama that her company is releasing, but after hours she is involved in an extramarital affair with a business associate, Muramoto (Joe Odagiri). — James Marsh, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026 Once one of the most dynamic running backs in the league, Kamara has just 51 yards on 18 rushing attempts this season. — Outkick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026 Faith in Brandon Aubrey is warranted, but field goal attempts from any distance need a fun governor. — Mac Engel october 4, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Oct. 2026 The company says that if an agent attempts to move outside its software boundary, Sentry can quarantine and stop it in milliseconds. — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2026 Seven attempts Machado’s camp publicly confirmed last month that there have been at least seven efforts to return. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026 Nuclear fusion attempts to copy the physical reactions that power the sun. — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for attempts
Noun
  • For example, using a quantum computer to break the current RSA-2048 encryption employed in website security, banking and electronic ID cards would require magic states that would fail only once in 10 billion tries.
    — Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Seguin’s goal, tying the score late in the first period, was Dallas’ first home power-play goal in eight tries.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • That has included arson attacks on Jewish sites that Britain says were carried out by Iranian proxies.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The attacks came during the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Yet, this tense adventure makes a strong case that bad parents can still teach good lessons, even when a kid strives to live in opposition to their folks.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Katie strives to use catering companies that adhere to the teachings of the Make America Healthy Again movement, one regular guest says, which encourages the consumption of raw milk and the avoidance of seed oils.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 8 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • As far as co-op puzzle-solving goes, Orbitals doesn’t reinvent the wheel.
    — Andrew Webster, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The first phase of the railway that the Colorado Connector (CoCo) will make trips on goes from Denver up to Boulder, on to Fort Collins.
    — Chierstin Roth, CBS News, 14 July 2026
Noun
  • Schleinzer made a deliberate choice not to depict the assaults themselves, arguing that images carry a responsibility, particularly in a culture saturated with graphic representations of suffering.
    — Katherine Brodsky, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Misdemeanor assaults have increased 16% in transit, to 1,304 from 1,120.
    — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 14 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Testers dropped heavy weights from considerable heights onto the containers and used metal fangs to make stabs at perforation.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The stabs at humor also fall flat, even if the gimmick of a priest injecting his enemies with a serum that obliges them to attend mass every Sunday is kind of fun the first time, but not really the second or third.
    — Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Raman called for replacing the police chief over the department’s handling of federal immigration raids, while Bass warned that changing leadership ahead of the 2028 Olympics could disrupt the department.
    — Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Raman called for Police Chief Jim McDonnell’s ouster over his handling of federal immigration raids.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Ukraine can conduct localized offensives but not enough to shift the broader battlefield balance, despite mounting Russian losses.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Only small offensives are possible Ukraine can conduct localized offensives but not enough to shift the broader battlefield balance, despite mounting Russian losses.
    — Samya Kullab, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Attempts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/attempts. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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