From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishendeavouren‧deav‧our1 British English, endeavor American English /ɪnˈdevə $ -ər/ ●○○ verb [intransitive] formalTRY TO DO OR GET something to try very hardendeavour to do something We always endeavor to please our customers.► see thesaurus at try→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
endeavour• They endeavoured, on a number of levels, to make themselves more accountable than previous Labour councils had been.• It is very important that the two partners endeavour to: Agree on discipline.• Joan opened it, endeavouring to appear calm.• Auguste was endeavouring to be both detective and maîtred'hôtel for the matter of tea, torn as usual by twin loves.• Other churches have endeavoured to build effective congregational structures to express both homogeneity and heterogeneity.• The management control process should endeavour to measure whether predetermined goals are being achieved.• We will endeavour to sell your items for you.endeavour to do something• We will endeavour to arrive in Scheffau before the shops close!• I remained for some time endeavouring to engage Mr Campbell in conversation.• After commencing retraining, the ex POWs, like most soldiers on a home posting, endeavoured to get home at weekends.• They also endeavour to increase the participation of local organizations in educational planning.• We always endeavour to provide our customers with the highest standards of service.• We will endeavour to sell your items for you.• In this care study I have endeavoured to show some aspects of the unique role of the nurse described by Salvage.• It is this cheapness which I am endeavouring to slough off.endeavourendeavour2 British English, endeavor American English noun [countable, uncountable] formalTRY TO DO OR GET something an attempt to do something new or difficultscientific/creative etc endeavour an outstanding example of human endeavorendeavour to do something They made every endeavour to find the two boys. Despite our best endeavours, we couldn’t start the car.Examples from the Corpus
endeavour• It was no accident that this was a major area of feminist endeavour.• Have you faced his challenges to great endeavour?• Attitudes were formed as much in shared leisure as by individual endeavour.• Yet here is a dark continent on our own doorstep, crying out for missionary endeavour.• They suspected they would gain little from this particular endeavour, but anything that supplemented their income was worthwhile.• She preferred laughter and skylarks to solid endeavour and while she could be noisy she shied away from being the centre of attention.• And they were eventually rewarded for their endeavour and spirit with a cracking goal.• Pride of place in this endeavour was given to systematic and properly grounded empirical investigation.scientific/creative etc endeavour• For them pollution control work is a scientific endeavour.• But the records of this branch of scientific endeavour date back 7000 years.• Any form of scientific endeavour must attempt to transcend its time and place to sustain an independent, doubting stance.Origin endeavour1 (1400-1500) dever “duty” ((13-17 centuries)), from Old French deveir