What's the difference between try and wry?

Try


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To divide or separate, as one sort from another; to winnow; to sift; to pick out; -- frequently followed by out; as, to try out the wild corn from the good.
  • (v. t.) To purify or refine, as metals; to melt out, and procure in a pure state, as oil, tallow, lard, etc.
  • (v. t.) To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test; as, to try weights or measures by a standard; to try a man's opinions.
  • (v. t.) To subject to severe trial; to put to the test; to cause suffering or trouble to.
  • (v. t.) To experiment with; to test by use; as, to try a remedy for disease; to try a horse.
  • (v. t.) To strain; to subject to excessive tests; as, the light tries his eyes; repeated disappointments try one's patience.
  • (v. t.) To examine or investigate judicially; to examine by witnesses or other judicial evidence and the principles of law; as, to try a cause, or a criminal.
  • (v. t.) To settle; to decide; to determine; specifically, to decide by an appeal to arms; as, to try rival claims by a duel; to try conclusions.
  • (v. t.) To experience; to have or gain knowledge of by experience.
  • (v. t.) To essay; to attempt; to endeavor.
  • (v. i.) To exert strength; to endeavor; to make an effort or an attempt; as, you must try hard if you wish to learn.
  • (v. i.) To do; to fare; as, how do you try!
  • (n.) A screen, or sieve, for grain.
  • (n.) Act of trying; attempt; experiment; trial.
  • (v. t.) Refined; select; excellent; choice.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It would be nice if it was more ... but I am trying."
  • (2) A remarkable deterioration of prognosis with increasing age rises the question whether treatment with cytotoxic drugs should be tried in patients more than 60 years old.
  • (3) I said: ‘Apologies for doing this publicly, but I did try to get a meeting with you, and I couldn’t even get a reply.’ And then I had a massive go at him – about everything really, from poverty to uni fees to NHS waiting times.” She giggles again.
  • (4) Try the sweet potato falafel, quinoa, roast vegetables, harissa and sumac yogurt ($23).
  • (5) Parents believed they should try to normalize their child's experiences, that interactions with health care professionals required negotiation and assertiveness, and that they needed some support person(s) outside of the family.
  • (6) One would expect banks to interpret this in a common sense and straightforward way without trying to circumvent it."
  • (7) But if you want to sustain a long-term relationship, it's important to try to develop other erotic interests and skills, because most partners will expect and demand that.
  • (8) Pint from £2.90 The Duke Of York With its smart greige interior, flagstone floor and extensive food menu (not tried), this newcomer feels like a gastropub.
  • (9) Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tried to liven things up, but there are only so many ways to tell us to be nice to chickens.
  • (10) It is felt that otologic surgery should be done before the pinna reconstruction as it is very important to try and introduce sound into these children at an early age.
  • (11) The information about her father's semi-brainwashing forms an interesting backdrop to Malala's comments when I ask if she ever wonders about the man who tried to kill her on her way back from school that day in October last year, and why his hands were shaking as he held the gun – a detail she has picked up from the girls in the school bus with her at the time; she herself has no memory of the shooting.
  • (12) The case was tried in a town called St Francisville, the closest courthouse to Angola.
  • (13) A complex of vitamins exerting a protective action on the system of coenzymic acetylation in the body have been tried.
  • (14) The corresponding hydrides, mono-n-butyltin hydride, di-n-butyltin hydride, tri-n-butyltin hydride, monophenyltin hydride, diphenyltin hydride triphenyltin hydride, are detected by electron-capture gas chromatography after clean-up by silica gel column chromatography.
  • (15) An official from Cafcass, the children and family court advisory service, tried to persuade the child in several interviews, but eventually the official told the court that further persuasion was inappropriate and essentially abusive.
  • (16) "Maybe dullness is associated with psychic pain," Wallace wrote at one point, "because something that's dull or opaque fails to provide enough stimulation to distract people from some other, deeper type of pain that is always there, if only in an ambient low-level way, and which most of us spend nearly all our time and energy trying to distract ourselves from."
  • (17) Alternatively, try the Hawaii Fish O nights, every Friday from 26 July until the end of August, featuring a one-hour paddleboard lesson, followed by a fish-and-chip supper looking out over the waves you've just battled (£16.75).
  • (18) Analysts say Zuma's lawyers may try to reach agreement with the prosecutors, while he can also appeal against yesterday's ruling before the constitutional court.
  • (19) Officials in Israel, using intermediaries in Europe, tried to reach out to Ayatollah Khamenei, via Khatami.
  • (20) In this way, we tried to find out how the patients experience the treatment and stay on the Unit, what is most helpful in solving their problems and what are, in their opinion, the direct gains of hospitalization.

Wry


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To cover.
  • (superl.) Turned to one side; twisted; distorted; as, a wry mouth.
  • (superl.) Hence, deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place; as, wry words.
  • (superl.) Wrested; perverted.
  • (v. i.) To twist; to writhe; to bend or wind.
  • (v. i.) To deviate from the right way; to go away or astray; to turn side; to swerve.
  • (a.) To twist; to distort; to writhe; to wrest; to vex.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) When I commiserate about the overnight flight that brought them here, Linney gives a wry grimace.
  • (2) The image was widely shared online and taken as a wry comment on pictures of Donald Trump’s all-male Oval Office team.
  • (3) Putin could have been forgiven for allowing himself a wry grin, as another court comprehensively trashed Berezovsky's reputation.
  • (4) No wry observations or whoops-a-daisy trombones to subvert the conceit for period lolz.
  • (5) She frequently talks about herself as an object of wry or amused discovery.
  • (6) It was described as the "Twitter revolution" , but almost a year on from Iran's disputed presidential elections, during which the use of social media by the opposition movement made headlines around the world, such claims prompt wry smiles from seasoned observers.
  • (7) Enigmatic and elusive, they may have named themselves after the US video director because they enjoy his work, or it may be a wry comment on something or other.
  • (8) Franzen did seem to have a certain sense of humour about himself, and in person has a wry, awkward charm.
  • (9) Coal plants are the most polluting of all power stations and the World Resources Institute (WRI) identified 1,200 coal plants in planning across 59 countries, with about three-quarters in China and India.
  • (10) The cover art for the Cranberries' Bury the Hatchet (1999) was an evocation of paranoia – a giant eye bearing down on a crouching figure – that did neither band nor artist many favours; his image for Muse's Black Holes and Revelations (2006) amounted to a thin revival of his work for the Floyd that, if you were being generous, suggested a wry comment on that band's unconvincing attempts to revive the excesses of 1970s progressive rock.
  • (11) He was a nice man, unpretentious and with a wry manner.
  • (12) The secretary of state also made a wry comparison between the bipartisan co-operation underpinning the new Afghan government and the polarised state of American domestic politics.
  • (13) But he is courteous, wry, insightful and very much on the left of his party.
  • (14) "I think I know what's to come," Chua says with a wry smile.
  • (15) "I don't think that Plaid Cymru can overturn world capitalism," she says, with a wry smile.
  • (16) "They were very happy," Wazir recalls with a wry smile.
  • (17) We are seeing a shift in the expansion of tree cover loss to a second tier of smaller countries that traditionally get much less attention from environmental groups.” He added: “These countries are recovering from years of civil conflicts that have made them off limits to investors who are now looking for opportunities – it is a new frontier of investments.” The WRI analysis suggests that a rapidly growing palm oil industry is one of the biggest contributors to the change.
  • (18) Guy Shrubsole, at Friends of the Earth, said of the WRI report: "This is a scary number of coal-fired plants being planned.
  • (19) The WRI report also found that, after a slight dip during the economic troubles of 2008, the global coal trade has rebounded and rose by 13% in 2010.
  • (20) But he is far from being a show-off: 'In fact, he comes over as a modest individual with a wry sense of humour', says a colleague.