What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Attempt vs Test - What's the difference?

attempt | test | Related terms |

In obsolete terms the difference between attempt and test

is that attempt is to try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt while test is to make a testament, or will.

As verbs the difference between attempt and test

is that attempt is to try while test is to refine (gold, silver, etc.) in a test or cupel; to subject to cupellation.

As nouns the difference between attempt and test

is that attempt is the action of trying at something while test is a cupel or cupelling hearth in which precious metals are melted for trial and refinement.

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

    *

    test

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) ; see terra, thirst.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A cupel or cupelling hearth in which precious metals are melted for trial and refinement.
  • A , trial.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
  • , author=Colin Allen , title=Do I See What You See? , volume=100, issue=2, page=168 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Numerous experimental tests and other observations have been offered in favor of animal mind reading, and although many scientists are skeptical, others assert that humans are not the only species capable of representing what others do and don’t perceive and know.}}
  • (academia) An examination, given often during the academic term.
  • A session in which a product or piece of equipment is examined under everyday or extreme conditions to evaluate its durability, etc.
  • A Test match.
  • (marine biology) The external calciferous shell, or endoskeleton, of an echinoderm, e.g. sand dollars]] and sea urchins.
  • (botany) Testa; seed coat.
  • Judgment; distinction; discrimination.
  • * Dryden
  • Who would excel, when few can make a test / Betwixt indifferent writing and the best?
    Synonyms
    * (challenge) challenge, trial * (sense) quiz, examination
    Antonyms
    * (challenge) breeze * (sense) recess
    Derived terms
    * acid test * babysitter test * blood test * flame test * inkblot test * litmus test * nose test * Rorschach test * smell test * smoke test * sniff test * stress test * test case * tester * test tube
    Descendants
    * German: (l) * Dutch: (l)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To refine (gold, silver, etc.) in a test or cupel; to subject to cupellation.
  • To .
  • Climbing the mountain tested our stamina.
  • To put to the proof; to prove the truth, genuineness, or quality of by experiment, or by some principle or standard; to try.
  • to test''' the soundness of a principle; to '''test the validity of an argument
  • * Washington
  • Experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution.
  • (academics) To administer or assign an examination, often given during the academic term, to (somebody).
  • To place a product or piece of equipment under everyday and/or extreme conditions and examine it for its durability, etc.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Charles T. Ambrose
  • , title= Alzheimer’s Disease , volume=101, issue=3, page=200, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems— […]. Such a slow-release device containing angiogenic factors could be placed on the pia mater covering the cerebral cortex and tested in persons with senile dementia in long term studies.}}
  • (copulative) To be shown to be by test.
  • (chemistry) To examine or try, as by the use of some reagent.
  • to test a solution by litmus paper
    Descendants
    * German: (l)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) tester, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A witness.
  • * Ld. Berners
  • Prelates and great lords of England, who were for the more surety tests of that deed.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To make a testament, or will.