trying

Etymology

From try +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɹaɪ.ɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪɪŋ

Adjective

trying (comparative more trying, superlative most trying)

1. Difficult to endure; arduous.
   • 1891 [September, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Adventure III.—A Case of Identity.”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume II (July to December), number [9], London: […], page 249, column 2:

     "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a little trying to do so much typewriting?"

   • 1951 October, “Notes and News: The Harmonium at Troutbeck”, in Railway Magazine, page 709:

     Troutbeck is a tiny village midway between Penrith and Keswick in a very sparsely populated part of Cumberland, and it used to be said by facetious travellers that the reason why it ever had a station at all was to give the engine a rest after it had struggled up the long and trying incline from Threlkeld.

   • 1969, Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson (lyrics and music), “Tryin’ Times”, in First Take, performed by Roberta Flack:

     Tryin’ times, what the world is talkin’ about / You got confusion all over the land, yeah

2. Irritating, stressful or bothersome.

Verb

trying

1. present participle and gerund of try

Noun

trying (plural tryings)

1. (philosophy) The act by which one tries something; an attempt.
   • 2006, Andrew Sneddon, Action and Responsibility, page 145:

     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.

   • 2021, William Guss, gilwus‎:

     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.

Anagrams

• tyring