ENDEAVOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does endeavor mean? 

• ENDEAVOR (noun)
  The noun ENDEAVOR has 2 senses:

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

2. earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something

  Familiarity information: ENDEAVOR used as a noun is rare.

• ENDEAVOR (verb)
  The verb ENDEAVOR has 1 sense:

1. attempt by employing effort

  Familiarity information: ENDEAVOR used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENDEAVOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

endeavor; endeavour; enterprise

Context example:

he had doubts about the whole enterprise

Hypernyms ("endeavor" 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 "endeavor"):

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:

endeavor (attempt by employing effort)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

attempt; effort; endeavor; endeavour; try

Context example:

she gave it a good try

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

activity (any specific behavior)

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

best (the supreme effort one can make)

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)

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

Derivation:

endeavor (attempt by employing effort)

• ENDEAVOR (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they endeavor    ... he / she / it endeavors   
Past simple: endeavored   
Past participle: endeavored   
-ing form: endeavoring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attempt by employing effort

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

endeavor; endeavour; strive

Context example:

we endeavor to make our customers happy

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

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

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

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:

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

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

 Context examples 

My words do not mean to you what I endeavor to make them mean.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

You have had to be patient and realistic in your approach to this endeavor, for Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn has made this an imperative.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The Journal endeavors to appeal to a broad, multidisciplinary audience.

(Journal of the National Cancer Institute, NCI Thesaurus)

We were still discussing it, endeavoring to adjust our minds to these new conditions, when a singular scene in the plain below arrested our attention.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"What I like about it is the struggle, the endeavor with one's own hands, the primitiveness of it, the realness."

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

An agency in the executive branch which endeavors to abate and control pollution in the areas of air, water, solid waste, noise, radiation, and toxic substances.

(Environmental Protection Agency, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

To support the career development of investigators who have made a commitment to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research.

(Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award, NCI Thesaurus)

In the mean time, till all these alterations could be made from the savings of an income of five hundred a-year by a woman who never saved in her life, they were wise enough to be contented with the house as it was; and each of them was busy in arranging their particular concerns, and endeavoring, by placing around them books and other possessions, to form themselves a home.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The ICRU endeavors to collect and evaluate the latest data and information pertinent to the problems of radiation measurement and dosimetry, and to recommend in its publications the most acceptable values and techniques for current use.

(International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, NCI Thesaurus)

But memory turned traitor, and as if possessed by the perverse spirit of the girl, would only recall Jo's oddities, faults, and freaks, would only show her in the most unsentimental aspects—beating mats with her head tied up in a bandanna, barricading herself with the sofa pillow, or throwing cold water over his passion a la Gummidge—and an irresistable laugh spoiled the pensive picture he was endeavoring to paint.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)