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Try vs Find - What's the difference?

try | find |

As an initialism try

is .

As a verb find is

to encounter or discover by accident; to happen upon.

As a noun find is

anything that is found (usually valuable), as objects on an archeological site or a person with talent.

try

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . Replaced native (etyl) (from (etyl) (m)).

Verb

(en-verb)
  • To attempt; to endeavour. Followed by infinitive.
  • * , chapter=22
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-21, volume=411, issue=8892, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Magician’s brain , passage=[Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes.}}
  • (label) To divide; to separate.
  • # To separate (precious metal etc.) from the ore by melting; to purify, refine.
  • #* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.vii:
  • euery feend his busie paines applide, / To melt the golden metall, ready to be tride .
  • # (label) To winnow; to sift; to pick out; frequently followed by out .
  • To test, to work out.
  • # To make an experiment. Usually followed by a present participle.
  • # To put to test.
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}
  • #* 1922 , , Miss Mapp , :
  • “So mousie shall only find tins on the floor now,” thought Miss Mapp. “Mousie shall try his teeth on tins.”
  • #* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan
  • , title= Wild Plants to the Rescue , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.
  • # To taste, sample, etc.
  • # To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Let the end try the man.
  • # To put on trial.
  • #* 1900 , , (The House Behind the Cedars) , Chapter I
  • The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.
  • To experiment, to strive.
  • # To have or gain knowledge of by experience.
  • #* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Try the Libyan heat or Scythian cold.
  • (Milton)
  • # To work on something.
  • # (label) To do; to fare.
  • # To settle; to decide; to determine; specifically, to decide by an appeal to arms.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Left I the court, to see this quarrel tried .
  • (label) To lie to in heavy weather under just sufficient sail to head into the wind.
  • To strain; to subject to excessive tests.
  • Usage notes
    * (to attempt) This is a catenative verb that takes the to'' infinitive. In the future tense, it can take ''and'' instead of ''to . *: * (to make an experiment) This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . * See
    Synonyms
    * (to attempt) attempt, mint, take a run at, take a stab at * sample, taste
    Derived terms
    * try-hard * try-miter square * try-off * try on * try-on * try out * try-out * try-outs * try square/try-square * try your luck * trying * try one's hand

    Noun

    (tries)
  • An attempt.
  • I gave unicycling a try but I couldn’t do it .
  • An act of tasting or sampling.
  • I gave sushi a try but I didn’t like it .
  • (rugby) A score in rugby, analogous to a touchdown in American football.
  • Today I scored my first try .
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Tom Fordyce , title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=But two penalties and a drop-goal from Jonny Wilkinson, despite a host of other wayward attempts, plus a late try from Chris Ashton were enough to send a misfiring England through.}}
  • (UK, dialect, obsolete) A screen, or sieve, for grain.
  • (Holland)
  • (American football) a field goal or extra point
  • Synonyms
    * (an attempt) bash, go, stab, whirl * (an act of tasting or sampling) sampling, taste, tasting * (a score in rugby) touchdown (American football )
    Derived terms
    * give a try * old college try * penalty try * worth a try

    Etymology 2

    Probably from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Fine, excellent.
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , V.2:
  • But he her suppliant hands, those hands of gold, / And eke her feete, those feete of silver trye , […] Chopt off […].

    Statistics

    *

    find

    English

    Verb

  • To encounter or discover by accident; to happen upon.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Searching the window for a flint, I found / This paper, thus sealed up.
  • * Cowley
  • In woods and forests thou art found .
  • To encounter or discover something being searched for; to locate.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.}}
  • * , chapter=10
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=January 25, author=Paul Fletcher, work=BBC
  • , title= Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (agg. 3-1) , passage=Van Persie scored a hat-trick against Wigan on Saturday and should have found' the net again after Bendtner ' found him at the far post but the Dutchman's header rebounded to safety off the crossbar.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field. Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler found evidence of them on their marine plastic, too.}}
  • To point out.
  • To decide that, to discover that, to form the opinion that.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I find you passing gentle.
  • * Cowley
  • The torrid zone is now found habitable.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
  • , chapter=1 citation , passage=“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes
  • To determine or judge.
  • To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish.
  • to find''' a verdict; to '''find a true bill (of indictment) against an accused person
  • * Shakespeare
  • to find his title with some shows of truth
  • To discover by study or experiment direct to an object or end.
  • Water is found to be a compound substance.
  • To gain, as the object of desire or effort.
  • to find''' leisure; to '''find means
  • To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.
  • Looks like he found himself a new vehicle!
    After a long flight, I now find myself in San Francisco.
  • (archaic) To provide for; to supply; to furnish.
  • to find food for workmen
    He finds his nephew in money.
  • * London Times
  • Wages £14 and all found .
  • * Charles Dickens
  • Nothing a day and find yourself.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * lose

    Derived terms

    See also'' finding''' ''and'' ' found * find fault * find one's feet * find out

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Anything that is found (usually valuable), as objects on an archeological site or a person with talent.
  • The act of finding.
  • Synonyms

    * (anything found) discovery, catch

    Statistics

    *