From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstab at (doing) somethingstab at (doing) somethinginformalTRY TO DO OR GET something an attempt to do something, often not successfullyhave/make/take a stab at (doing) something I’ll have one more stab at it. → stab
Examples from the Corpus
stab at (doing) something• I knew the day and the month and made a stab at the year.• There have been several other attempts with the Department of Defense that took a stab at a new vehicle.• Of course, she thought with a stab at realism, all this could apply to anyone.• But the extreme suffering of women and their children stabbed at my heart.• A few years earlier, the Sellers shops had taken some early stabs at the problem.• He stabbed at it with his talons and beak.• But this last little stab at optimism soon comes to naught.• But there was an interesting sequel, which gave him his first, insightful, small stab at directing. 