attempt
noun
ADJ. successful | abortive, botched, failed, fruitless, futile, ill-fated, unsuccessful, vain her vain attempt to save her son's life| conscious, deliberate | brave, bold, concerted, determined, serious, valiant | blatant | feeble, half-hearted, weak | clumsy, crude | desperate, frantic, last-ditch a desperate attempt to find survivors of the accident| repeated repeated attempts to break through enemy lines| assassination, coup, rescue, suicide Rescue attempts were stopped because of bad weather.
VERB + ATTEMPT make She has made no attempt to contact her mother.| succeed in He succeeded in his attempt to break the world record.| abandon, fail in, give up He abandoned his attempt to reach the summit.| foil, thwart Their attempt to break out of prison was foiled.
ATTEMPT + VERB succeed | fail
PREP. in an/the ~ In an attempt to ward off criticism, the government has made education a priority.| ~ at He made a feeble attempt at a smile.| ~ by an attempt by workers to prevent redundancies
PHRASES an attempt on sb's life (= to kill sb)
