Word.ws English Dictionary

take a stab at

take a stab at verb: to attempt or try.

Verb

take a stab at (third-person singular simple present takes a stab at, present participle taking a stab at, simple past took a stab at, past participle taken a stab at)

  1. (idiomatic) To attempt or try.
    • Would you like to take a stab at explaining the theory?
    • Jimmy Carter is the third President in a row to take a stab at reforming the “welfare mess” — an almost obligatory pejorative of political oratory.1978 July 9, Robert Lekachman, “Welfare Needs Help”, in The New York Times
  2. (idiomatic) To guess about.
    • I'll take a stab at the answer, but I don't really know for sure.
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take, stab.

Synonyms of take a stab at

Forms of take a stab at

third-person singular presenttakes a stab at
present participletaking a stab at
pasttook a stab at
past participletaken a stab at

Questions about take a stab at

What does take a stab at mean?
Take a stab at means to attempt or try.
What part of speech is take a stab at?
Take a stab at is a verb.
What is the past tense of take a stab at?
The past tense of take a stab at is took a stab at.

Words near take a stab at in the dictionary

  1. take a shining to
  2. take a shit
  3. take a shot in the dark
  4. take a sight
  5. take a spill
  6. take a stab at
  7. take a stand
  8. take a step back
  9. take a tinkle
  10. take a toll
  11. take a tumble

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take a stab at (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-take a stab at.ogg.

Cite this entry: “take a stab at.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/take_a_stab_at. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.