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Attempt vs Will - What's the difference?

attempt | will |

As nouns the difference between attempt and will

is that attempt is the action of trying at something while will is (american football) a weak-side linebacker.

As a verb attempt

is to try.

As a proper noun will is

also used as a formal given name.

attempt

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To try.
    • I attempted to sing, but my throat was too hoarse.
    to attempt an escape from prison
  • * Longfellow
    • Something attempted , something done, / Has earned a night's repose.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Sarah Glaz
    • , title= Ode to Prime Numbers , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.}}
  • (obsolete) To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt.
  • * Thackeray
    • It made the laughter of an afternoon / That Vivien should attempt the blameless king.
  • (archaic) To try to win, subdue, or overcome.
    • one who attempts the virtue of a woman
  • * Shakespeare
    • Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further: / Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute.
  • (archaic) To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force.
    • to attempt the enemy's camp
  • * Motley
    • without attempting his adversary's life

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Synonyms

    * take a stab at, take a run at

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The action of trying at something.
  • * We made an attempt to cross the stream, but didn't manage.
  • * This poem is much better than the feeble attempt of mine.
  • * It was worth the attempt .
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
    • , author=William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter , title=The British Longitude Act Reconsidered , volume=100, issue=2, page=87 , magazine= citation , passage=But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea}}
  • An assault or attack, especially an assassination attempt.
  • * 1584' ''No man can charge us of any '''attempt against the realm. (Allen's Defence Of English Catholics, cited after Edinburgh review 1883, p. 378)

    • Usage notes

    * Adjectives often applied to "attempt": first, failed, desperate, last, half-hearted, unsuccessful, serious, successful, feeble, new, honest, vain, sincere, ambitious, earnest, clumsy, direct, hard, brilliant, official, useless, clever, sophisticated, amateurish.

    Synonyms

    * effort * try

    Statistics

    *

    External links

    * * * English control verbs

    will

    English

    (wikipedia will)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) wille, from (etyl) . Cognate with Dutch wil, German Wille, Swedish vilja. The verb is not always distinguishable from Etymology 2, below.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic) Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.)
    • He felt a great will to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
  • One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention.
    • Of course, man's will is often regulated by his reason.
  • One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands.
    • Eventually I submitted to my parents' will .
  • (archaic) That which is desired; one's wish.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.ii:
    • I auow by this most sacred head / Of my deare foster child, to ease thy griefe, / And win thy will [...].
  • The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition.
    • Most creatures have a will to live.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 27 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992) , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=The episode’s unwillingness to fully commit to the pathos of the Bart-and-Laura subplot is all the more frustrating considering its laugh quota is more than filled by a rollicking B-story that finds Homer, he of the iron stomach and insatiable appetite, filing a lawsuit against The Frying Dutchman when he’s hauled out of the eatery against his will after consuming all of the restaurant’s shrimp (plus two plastic lobsters).}}
  • A formal declaration of one's intent concerning the disposal of one's property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1928, author=Lawrence R. Bourne
    • , title=Well Tackled! , chapter=1 citation , passage=“Uncle Barnaby was always father and mother to me,” Benson broke in; then after a pause his mind flew off at a tangent. “Is old Hannah all right—in the will , I mean?”}}
    Usage notes
    * Can be said to be strong, free, independent, etc.
    Derived terms
    * at will * wilful, willful * willpower * with a will

    Verb

  • (archaic) To wish, desire.
  • * Bible, Matthew viii. 2
    • And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord if thou wilt , thou canst make me clean.
  • (intransitive) To instruct (that something be done) in one's will.
  • To try to make (something) happen by using one's will (intention).
    • All the fans were willing their team to win the game.
  • * Shakespeare
    • They willed me say so, madam.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
    • Send for music, / And will the cooks to use their best of cunning / To please the palate.
  • To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document).
    • He willed his stamp collection to the local museum.
    Synonyms
    * (bequeath) bequeath, leave

    See also

    * bequeath * going to * modal verb * testament * volition * voluntary

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) willen, wullen, wollen, from (etyl) willan, .It is not always distinguishable from Etymology 1, above.

    Verb

  • (rare) To wish, desire (something).
  • * 1944 , FJ Sheed, translating St. Augustine, Confessions :
    • Grant what Thou dost command, and command what Thou wilt .
  • (rare) To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that).
  • * 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Matthew XXVI:
    • the disciples cam to Jesus sayinge unto hym: where wylt thou that we prepare for the to eate the ester lambe?
  • *:
    • see God's goodwill toward men, hear how generally his grace is proposed, to him, and him, and them, each man in particular, and to all. 1 Tim. ii. 4. "God will that all men be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth."
  • (auxiliary) To habitually do (a given action).
  • * 1994 , Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom , Abacus 2010, p. 28:
    • As young men will , I did my best to appear suave and sophisticated.
  • * 2009 , Stephen Bayley, The Telegraph , 24 Sep 09:
    • How telling is it that many women will volunteer for temporary disablement by wearing high heeled shoes that hobble them?
  • * 2011 , "Connubial bliss in America", The Economist :
    • So far neither side has scored a decisive victory, though each will occasionally claim one.
  • (auxiliary) To choose to (do something), used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive).
  • (auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, formerly with some implication of volition when used in first person. Compare (shall).
  • * (rfdate) William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night Or What You Will , act IV:
    • Good fool, as ever thou wilt deserve well at my hand, help me to a candle, and pen, ink and paper : as I am a gentleman, I will live to be thankful to thee for’t.
  • * (rfdate) Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo , chapter LXXIII:
    • “I will' rejoin you, and we ' will fly ; but from this moment until then, let us not tempt Providence, Morrel; let us not see each other; it is a miracle, it is a providence that we have not been discovered; if we were surprised, if it were known that we met thus, we should have no further resource.”
  • (auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to.
    • Unfortunately, only one of these gloves will actually fit over my hand.
    Usage notes
    * Historically, will' was used in the simple future sense only in the second and third person, while ''shall'' was used in the first person. Today, that distinction is almost entirely lost, and the verb takes the same form in all persons and both numbers. Similarly, in the intent sense, '''will was historically used with the second and third person, while ''shall was reserved for the first person. * Historically, the present tense is will' and the past tense is '''would'''. Early Modern English had a past participle ' would which is now obsolete. :: Malory, ‘Many tymes he myghte haue had her and he had wold’ ; John Done, ‘If hee had would, hee might easily [...] occupied the Monarchy.’ * Formerly, will could be used elliptically for "will go" — e.g. "I'll to her lodgings" (Marlowe). * See the usage note at shall . * The present participle does not apply to the uses of will as an auxiliary verb.
    See also
    *

    Statistics

    * 100 English basic words English auxiliary verbs English defective verbs English irregular verbs 1000 English basic words ----