try titles

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

try titles (third-person singular simple present tries titles, present participle trying titles, simple past and past participle tried titles)

1. (dated) To battle.
   • 1839, Benjamin Eggleston, The Wars of America (Hazard & Bloomer), page 450

     Gen. Greene, having received all the reinforcements he expected, instantly prepared to try titles for victory, with his lordship, at the point of a bayonet.

   • 1914 August 15, “Why The Governor Is Not In”, in Nashua Telegraph, http://nashua.advantage-preservation.com/Viewer/DownloadPDFFile?PubDateId=13692491 page 4:

     If it could have been made to appear that his only motive was to save the Democratic party from the Hollis and Stevens radicalism, he might have been persuaded to try titles with these gentlemen.

2. To litigate a claim to property (most often real estate) or a public office.