effort

6 definitions • 18 examples

physical or mental activity needed to achieve something:

[ + to infinitive ] If we could all make an effort to keep this office tidier it would help.

make the effort You can't expect to have any friends if you don't make the effort with people.

in someone’s effort to In their efforts to reduce crime the government expanded the police force.

effort to He's jogging around the park every morning in an effort to get fit.

worth the effort It takes a long time to prepare the dish but the results are so good that it's worth the effort.

the result of an attempt to produce something, especially when its quality is low or uncertain:

Do you want to have a look at his exam paper? It's a fairly poor effort.

to be difficult, tiring, or boring to do:

I'm exhausted all the time, and everything is a real effort.

physical or mental activity needed to achieve something, or an attempt to do something:

[ C ] They met again in an effort to end the strike and get people back to work.

[ U ] It took years to write the book, but it was worth the effort.

[ U ] He established the Help Committee to coordinate the relief effort.

[ C ] Efforts to reach the senator for comment were not successful.

a serious attempt to do something:

an effort to do sth This is part of an ongoing effort to develop the Asian debt market.

The guidelines require that companies make an effort to engender a culture of ethical compliance.

The new system has been introduced in an effort to improve customer care.

Ensuring the product is launched on time will be a team effort.

Over the past year, the combined efforts of the train companies has produced a 12% increase in passenger business and a 20% expansion of freight traffic.

physical or mental activity needed to achieve something, or energy used to do something:

A number of returns which were prepared manually are now produced by the computer, resulting in saving of staff time and effort.

take/require effort Taking the time to compare prices means that the purchase takes more effort, but it's usually worth it.