- [countable, uncountable] an act of trying to do something, especially something difficult, often with no success
- I passed my driving test at the first attempt.
- attempt to do something They made no attempt to escape.
- The launch will go ahead despite the failure of previous attempts to create an online business.
- Why have repeated attempts to find a permanent solution to the problem failed ?
- They were frustrated in their attempts to get an explanation.
- He has failed in three previous attempts to win the world title.
- in an attempt to do something Two factories were closed in an attempt to cut costs.
- attempt at something The couple made an unsuccessful attempt at a compromise.
- attempt at doing something They were praised for making an attempt at solving the problem.
Extra ExamplesTopics Difficulty and failureb2- That's not bad for a first attempt.
- Rescue attempts were stopped because of bad weather.
- In an attempt to ward off criticism, the government has made education a priority.
- She has made no attempt to contact her mother.
- The board said it would resist any attempt to take control of the company.
- Their attempt to break out of prison was foiled.
- her vain attempt to save her son's life
- Last night there was a desperate attempt to reach survivors of the accident.
- They were arrested after a failed coup attempt.
- She smiled at my feeble attempt at humour.
- I made a half-hearted attempt at cleaning my apartment.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- successful
- abortive
- botched
- …
- make
- succeed in
- abandon
- …
- succeed
- fail
- in an/the attempt
- attempt at
- attempt by
- …
- an attempt on somebody’s life
- at the first, second, etc. attempt
- in the first, second, etc. attempt
- …
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural-sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- [countable] an act of trying to kill somebody
- attempt on somebody/sb’s life Someone has made an attempt on the president's life.
- an assassination attempt
- a murder/suicide attempt
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- successful
- abortive
- botched
- …
- make
- succeed in
- abandon
- …
- succeed
- fail
- in an/the attempt
- attempt at
- attempt by
- …
- an attempt on somebody’s life
- at the first, second, etc. attempt
- in the first, second, etc. attempt
- …
- [countable] attempt (on something) an effort to do better than something, such as a very good performance in sport
- his attempt on the world land speed record
- a world-record attempt
- [countable] attempt (at something) a thing that you produce as a result of trying to make or achieve something
- She picked her first attempt at a letter out of the bin.
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French attempter, from Latin attemptare, from ad- ‘to’ + temptare ‘to tempt’.
Check pronunciation:
attempt