trying

Etymology

try + -ing

adj

  1. Difficult to endure; arduous.
    Tryin’ times, what the world is talkin’ about / You got confusion all over the land, yeah 1969, Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson (lyrics and music), “Tryin’ Times”, in First Take, performed by Roberta Flack
  2. Irritating, stressful or bothersome.

verb

  1. present participle and gerund of try

noun

  1. (philosophy) The act by which one tries something; an attempt.
    In a variety of places, O'Shaughnessy argues that there is an internal relation between trying and the events that tryings produce. For example, he argues that tryings are not independently specifiable except as would-be causes of physical events. 2006, Andrew Sneddon, Action and Responsibility, page 145
    When I write with others, the pauses and manyfold attempts to get at an idea mirror the cadence of a conversation or the tryings of finding a word that evades the tongue. That searching is such a beautiful thing. 2021, William Guss, gilwus

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