trying

try +‎ -ing

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɹaɪ.ɪŋ/

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• Rhymes: -aɪɪŋ

trying (comparative more trying, superlative most trying)

1. Difficult to endure; arduous.
   • 1892 October 14, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of a Case of Identity”, in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, London: George Newnes, […], OCLC 4551407, page 59:

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

   • 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.

trying

1. present participle of try

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.

• tyring