See Also: endeavour(dictionary)
endeavour 1, verb(dictionary)
endeavour 2, noun(dictionary)

endeavour (iou)



endeavour verb & noun. Also *endeavor, indeavour. LME.
[from put oneself in devoir s.v. DEVOIR 2: see -OUR.]
A. verb.
verb refl. & intrans. Exert oneself. LME-M17.
verb trans. Exert (one's power, thoughts, etc.). rare. L16-M17.
verb intrans. Try, make an effort for a specified object; attempt strenuously (to do). L16.
J. S. Mill If we are endeavouring after more riches. T. Hardy Charlotte vainly endeavoured to hide her confusion.
verb trans. Use effort for; attempt (an action). Long arch. L16.
b. noun. The action of endeavouring; effort directed to attain an object; a strenuous attempt. LME.
do one's endeavour(s) do one's best, do all one can.
Coleridge O Liberty! with profitless endeavour Have I pursued thee. T. E. Lawrence My determined endeavour is to scrape through with it. E. V. Knox Fumbling with the screws of the windscreen, an endeavour which I have long proved to be vain.
endeavourer noun (a) a person who endeavours; (b) in full
Christian Endeavourer, a member of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour, a religious association begun in the US in 1881: L16.