Word.ws English Dictionary

old college try

old college try noun: a vigorous, committed attempt or effort, often in the context of a nearly hopeless situation where failure is expected.

Noun

old college try (plural old college tries)

  1. (informal) A vigorous, committed attempt or effort, often in the context of a nearly hopeless situation where failure is expected.
    • Those who have seen Ruth make the "old college try" understand that some professionals play with a spiritual fervor which is supposed to be the amateur's prerogative.1929, Munsey's Magazine, volume 96, number 3, page 355
    • Reeve gives his role the old college try—fervent amateurism.1980, T. E. Kalem, "Happy Hangover" (theatre review of Fifth of July), Time, 17 Nov.

Forms of old college try

pluralold college tries

Origin of old college try

From the ambitiousness of college athletes. Earliest known use from 1914. Said to have been coined by John McGraw, manager of the New York Giants from 1902–1932 (see citation from 1917).

Questions about old college try

What does old college try mean?
Old college try means a vigorous, committed attempt or effort, often in the context of a nearly hopeless situation where failure is expected.
What part of speech is old college try?
Old college try is a noun.
What is the plural of old college try?
The plural of old college try is old college tries.

Words near old college try in the dictionary

  1. old cocoyam
  2. old cocoyams
  3. old codger
  4. old codgers
  5. old college tries
  6. old college try
  7. Old Colwyn
  8. Old Comedy
  9. Old Comic
  10. Old Cornish
  11. Old Coulsdon

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: old college try (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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