Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of essay.
  • noun An Attempt; a try

Etymologies

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Examples

  • And, Sir, in essaying this supreme task we shall surely be influenced most of all by the traditions which the Briton bequeaths to us.

    Our National Outlook 1904

  • Le Salon de Musiques has offered two programs in a row in which its performers are essaying, singly or collectively, first time public performances of well-known classics.

    Rodney Punt: Schubert's Winterreise from Le Salon de Musiques Rodney Punt 2011

  • Knowing that competitive sport is at heart a metaphor for battle, I find myself picturing Hannibal "Lindy Hopping" with his elephants, Achilles and Ajax in a "Funky Chicken" dance-off, and Winston Churchill essaying the "Mashed Potato" as news trickles through of the German surrender.

    After the Binge Must Come the Purge Sam Leith 2011

  • So the Thin White Duke is with us once more, throwing darts in lovers 'eyes, pursuing his interest in the Gnostic myth of the Fall, bridging the gap between Philly soul and the motorik sounds of Kraftwerk and Neu! and subsisting on a diet of milk and cocaine to the point at which essaying a Nazi salute on the platform of Victoria station might feel like a good idea ...

    Why there will never be another David Bowie Caspar Llewellyn Smith 2010

  • Despite essaying a variant on the "buy a ready-made cake and then ice your name on it" technique, she still can't help reminding people where it came from.

    The Hard Sell: Waitrose 2011

  • Nat Pendleton plays a menacing heavy (big surprise) and Franklin Pangborn is on hand essaying his patented Flustered Hotel Clerk.

    Weekly Mishmash: May 23-29 : Scrubbles.net 2010

  • Would a student tenor singing Cavaradossi's opening aria from Tosca have no idea of the dramatic context, and would any aspiring mezzo, essaying the letter scene from Verdi's Macbeth, be so dumb as to say to Callas, of all people: "I'm not an actress, I'm just a singer"?

    Master Class – review 2012

  • Le Salon de Musiques has offered two programs in a row in which its performers are essaying, singly or collectively, first time public performances of well-known classics.

    Rodney Punt: Schubert's Winterreise from Le Salon de Musiques Rodney Punt 2011

  • Nat Pendleton plays a menacing heavy (big surprise) and Franklin Pangborn is on hand essaying his patented Flustered Hotel Clerk.

    2010 May : Scrubbles.net 2010

  • Is Cain essaying the good old-fashioned "Can't you take a joke?" defence there?

    Herman Cain: first appearances after sexual harassment allegations – live 2011

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