effort

n.

1. The act of striving

   exertion, endeavor, industry, labor, pains, trouble, force, toil, work, application, energy, travail, struggle, striving, attempting, stress, pull, stretch, push, strain, tension, tug, sweat, sweat of one's brow, toil and trouble, elbow grease*.

   Antonyms ease, carelessness*, sloth. *

2. An instance of effort, sense 1

   attempt, try, bid, endeavor, enterprise, undertaking, struggle, battle, trial, spurt, essay, venture, aim, purpose, resolution, exercise, discipline, drill, training, crack*, stab*, shot*, go*, whirl*, the old college try*.

effort implies a conscious attempt to achieve a particular end make some effort to be friendly; exertion implies an energetic, vigorous use of power, strength, etc., often without reference to any particular end she feels faint after any exertion; endeavor suggests an earnest, sustained attempt to accomplish a particular, usually meritorious, end a life spent in the endeavor to do good; ?pains suggests a laborious, diligent attempt to take pains with one's work