The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Attempt \At*tempt"\ (?; 215), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attempted;
   p. pr. & vb. n. Attempting.] [OF. atenter, also spelt
   atempter, F. attenter, fr. L. attentare to attempt; ad +
   tentare, temptare, to touch, try, v. intens. of tendere to
   stretch. See Tempt, and cf. Attend.]
   1. To make trial or experiment of; to try; to endeavor to do
      or perform (some action); to assay; as, to attempt to
      sing; to attempt a bold flight.
      [1913 Webster]

            Something attempted, something done,
            Has earned a night's repose.          --Longfellow.
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   2. To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by
      temptations; to tempt. [Obs. or Archaic]
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            It made the laughter of an afternoon
            That Vivien should attempt the blameless king.
                                                  --Thackeray.
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   3. To try to win, subdue, or overcome; as, one who attempts
      the virtue of a woman.
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            Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further:
            Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute. --Shak.
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   4. To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to
      take by force; as, to attempt the enemy's camp.
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            Without attempting his adversary's life. --Motley.
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   Syn: See Try.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Attempt \At*tempt"\, v. i.
   To make an attempt; -- with upon. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Attempt \At*tempt"\, n.
   A essay, trial, or endeavor; an undertaking; an attack, or an
   effort to gain a point; esp. an unsuccessful, as contrasted
   with a successful, effort.
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         By his blindness maimed for high attempts. --Milton.
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   Attempt to commit a crime (Law), such an intentional
      preparatory act as will apparently result, if not
      extrinsically hindered, in a crime which it was designed
      to effect. --Wharton.
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   Syn: Attempt, Endeavor, Effort, Exertion, Trial.

   Usage: These words agree in the idea of calling forth our
          powers into action. Trial is the generic term; it
          denotes a putting forth of one's powers with a view to
          determine what they can accomplish; as, to make trial
          of one's strength. An attempt is always directed to
          some definite and specific object; as, "The attempt,
          and not the deed, confounds us." --Shak. An endeavor
          is a continued attempt; as, "His high endeavor and his
          glad success." --Cowper. Effort is a specific putting
          forth of strength in order to carry out an attempt.
          Exertion is the putting forth or active exercise of
          any faculty or power. "It admits of all degrees of
          effort and even natural action without effort." --C.
          J. Smith. See Try.
          [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

attempt
    n 1: earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or
         accomplish something; "made an effort to cover all the
         reading material"; "wished him luck in his endeavor"; "she
         gave it a good try" [syn: attempt, effort, endeavor,
         endeavour, try]
    2: the act of attacking; "attacks on women increased last year";
       "they made an attempt on his life" [syn: attack, attempt]
    v 1: make an effort or attempt; "He tried to shake off his
         fears"; "The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps"; "The
         police attempted to stop the thief"; "He sought to improve
         himself"; "She always seeks to do good in the world" [syn:
         try, seek, attempt, essay, assay]
    2: enter upon an activity or enterprise [syn: undertake, set
       about, attempt]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

118 Moby Thesaurus words for "attempt":
   accept, affair, aim to, approach, assault, assay, assume, attack,
   attempt to, begin, beginning, bid, buckle to, business, care,
   chance, commence, commencement, commitment, contract, crack, dare,
   dare to, deal, effort, embark in, embark upon, endeavor, engage,
   engage in, engagement, enter on, enter upon, enterprise, essay,
   experiment, fall into, fall to, fling, gambit, get under way, go,
   go about, go at, go in for, go into, go upon, hassle, have at,
   hazard, inaugurate, initiate, initiation, launch forth,
   launch into, lay about, lick, lift a finger, make an attempt,
   make an effort, make bold, make free, move, move into, obligation,
   offer, operation, pains, pitch into, plan, plunge into, presume,
   pretend, pretend to, proceed to, program, project, proposition,
   seek, seek to, set about, set at, set forward, set going, set to,
   shot, shy, stab, start, step, strive, strive to, striving, stroke,
   strong bid, struggle, study to, tackle, take on, take the liberty,
   take up, task, tentative, trial, trial and error, trouble, try,
   try and, try to, turn to, undertake, undertaking, venture,
   venture on, venture to, venture upon, whack, work



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ATTEMPT, criminal law. An attempt to commit a crime, is an endeavor to
accomplish it, carried beyond mere preparation, but falling short of
execution of the ultimate design, in any part of it.
     2. Between preparations and attempts to commit a crime, the distinction
is in many cases, very indeterminate. A man who buys poison for the purpose
of committing a murder, and mixes it in the food intended for his victim,
and places it on a table where he may take it, will or will not be guilty of
an attempt to poison, from the simple circumstance of his taking back the
poisoned food before or after the victim has had an opportunity to take it;
for if immediately on putting it down, he should take it up, and, awakened
to a just consideration of the enormity of the crime, destroy it, this would
amount only to preparations and certainly if before he placed it on the
table, or before he mixed the poison with the food, he had repented of his
intention there would have been no attempt to commit a crime; the law gives
this as a locus penitentiae. An attempt to commit a crime is a misdemeanor;
and an attempt to commit a misdemeanor, is itself a misdemeanor. 1 Russ. on
Cr. 44; 2 East, R. 8; 3 Pick. R. 26; 3 Benth. Ev. 69; 6 C. & P. 368.