Library / English Dictionary

ENDEAVOUR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something

Example:

she gave it a good try

Synonyms:

attempt; effort; endeavor; endeavour; try

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("endeavour" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "endeavour"):

test; trial (the act of undergoing testing)

run; test; trial (the act of testing something)

takeover attempt (an attempt to take control of a corporation)

battle; struggle (an energetic attempt to achieve something)

nisus; pains; strain; striving (an effortful attempt to attain a goal)

shot (an attempt to score in a game)

shot; stab (informal words for any attempt or effort)

seeking (an attempt to acquire or gain something)

power play; squeeze; squeeze play (an aggressive attempt to compel acquiescence by the concentration or manipulation of power)

mug's game (a futile or unprofitable endeavor)

liberation (the attempt to achieve equal rights or status)

contribution; part; share (the effort contributed by a person in bringing about a result)

foray (an initial attempt (especially outside your usual areas of competence))

essay (a tentative attempt)

crack; fling; go; offer; pass; whirl (a usually brief attempt)

bid; play (an attempt to get something)

worst (the weakest effort or poorest achievement one is capable of)

best (the supreme effort one can make)

batting ((baseball) the batter's attempt to get on base)

Derivation:

endeavour (attempt by employing effort)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A purposeful or industrious undertaking (especially one that requires effort or boldness)

Example:

he had doubts about the whole enterprise

Synonyms:

endeavor; endeavour; enterprise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("endeavour" is a kind of...):

labor; project; task; undertaking (any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "endeavour"):

fraudulent scheme; illegitimate enterprise; racket (an illegal enterprise (such as extortion or fraud or drug peddling or prostitution) carried on for profit)

forlorn hope (a hopeless or desperate enterprise)

business activity; commercial activity (activity undertaken as part of a commercial enterprise)

Derivation:

endeavour (attempt by employing effort)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attempt by employing effort

Example:

we endeavor to make our customers happy

Synonyms:

endeavor; endeavour; strive

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "endeavour" is one way to...):

assay; attempt; essay; seek; try (make an effort or attempt)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "endeavour"):

struggle (to exert strenuous effort against opposition)

be at pains; take pains (try very hard to do something)

buck (to strive with determination)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

endeavour (earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something)

endeavour (a purposeful or industrious undertaking (especially one that requires effort or boldness))

Credits

 Context examples: 

She waits until her husband is asleep, and then she rushes down to endeavour to persuade them to leave her in peace.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He found Holmes leaning languidly against the mantelpiece, resigned and patient, endeavouring to conceal his irrepressible yawns.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“The man who wrote it was presumably well to do,” I remarked, endeavouring to imitate my companion’s processes.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The matter itself I could not deny, and vain was every endeavour to soften it.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

And even after fatigue came, his heritage of endurance braced him to endless endeavour and enabled him to drive his complaining body onward.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“If you will follow me, I will endeavour to make it all clear to you.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

New-born babies with low birth weight, he explains, require the complex care of the NICU setting, which endeavours to simulate uterine conditions until the baby’s immature skin begins to develop correctly and their gastrointestinal, immune, nervous, and respiratory systems start to function properly.

(Babies in neonatal intensive care units are exposed to harmful chemical substances found in plastic, University of Granada)

Each of us had done his work as well as he could; so far as thought, and endeavour, and opportunity go, we are prepared for the whole of our journey, and for our work when we get to Galatz.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Bessie now endeavoured to persuade her to take a sedative draught: she succeeded with difficulty.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"I must endeavour to subdue my mind to my fortune. I must learn to brook being happier than I deserve."

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)