ّIDIOMS ABOUT TRY 

 

strain every nerve

to make the greatest possible effort:She's straining every nerve to get the work finished on time.

strain after/for effect

to try so hard to entertain that it seems false:

I find his style of writing so artificial - he always seems to be straining for effect.

stretch a point

to make a claim which is not completely true, or to do something which goes beyond what is considered to be reasonable:

They claim to be the biggest company in the world, which is stretching a point, but it's true if you include their subsidiaries.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. SAYIN

Gsaid to encourage someone who has failed at something to try to do it again

sweat blood (ALSO sweat your guts out) INFORMAL

to make a great effort:

We sweated blood to get the work finished on time.I've been sweating blood over this report.

take the time

to make the effort to do something:

She didn't even take the time to wish me good morning.

fight tooth and nail

to try very hard to get something you want:

We fought tooth and nail to get the route of the new road changed.

try your hand at sth

to try doing something for the first time:

I might try my hand at a bit of Indian cookery.

try your luck

to try to achieve something although you know you might not succeed:

He'd always wanted to act and in 1959 came to London to try his luck on the stage.

do/try your utmost

to do something as well as you can by making a great effort:

She did her utmost to finish on time.

go out of your way

to try very hard to do something, especially for someone else:

They really went out of their way to make us feel welcome by giving us the best room in the house.

give it a whirl INFORMAL

to attempt to do something, often for the first time:

I've never danced salsa before but I'll give it a whirl.

for all you are worth INFORMAL

If you do something for all you are worth, you put a lot of effort into it:

We pushed the car for all we were worth, but we still couldn't get it started