take a stab at
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Attempt something without being sure of success
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
thử làm một việc gì đó mà không chắc thành công
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: physically stab at something
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I'll take a stab at fixing the bike
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “take a stab at” mean?
Attempt something without being sure of success Literally: physically stab at something
Is “take a stab at” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.