to put forth

45 4.1

To try hard to do something

phrasal verb

: esforzarse

She knows that if she truly wants to succeed, she must put forth more effort in her studies.
put forth an effort
put forth one's best

I mean, these are two traits that describe people who put forth effort toward goals.

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Examples

The suggestions put forth are meant to achieve stability in a civilized fashion.

Academic text (2017)
So he put forth the challenge into the world.
" He, however, does not put forth his best effort in school."

Academic text (1993)
Trump and Biden both put forth plans which went nowhere.
Mickey, you gotta put forth a better effort.

Cobb (1994)
They tried their best to answer questions I put forth to the class.
I'm proud of the effort you've all put forth this evening.

Fiction book (1990)
JOHNSON: Now, even though last Friday's game ended in a 35-0 loss, I wanna say to you fellas that you put forth a great effort.

Catch Me... If You Can (1989)
To achieve their goals, they need to put forth a strong effort every day.
It's important to put forth your best effort when working on a team project.

Synonyms

to try

vsto put forth

∞ 1.0

To make an effort to do something difficult

is used when effort is strong rather than a simple attempt

to push

vsto put forth

731 1.5

To try hard to achieve something, especially against difficulty

is a broader attempt that may lack strong determination

to put into

vsto put forth

272 2.9

To spend time, effort, or care on work

focuses on the act of trying rather than resource investment

to go for

vsto put forth

272 2.5

To try to get something you want by making an effort

implies a deliberate, possibly stronger effort to succeed

to strive

vsto put forth

156 3.7

To work very hard to reach a goal

is similar but often describes less extreme effort

to try for

vsto put forth

76 3.1

Make a strong effort to get something you want

focuses more on making a strong effort to reach a goal

to exert

vsto put forth

33 4.1

Make a strong physical or mental effort

focuses on effort without stressing physical or intense strain

to put out

vsto put forth

3 5.0

Make a lot of effort to do something

is the general act of trying, not always a notably strong exertion

to spare no effort

vsto put forth

2 3.9

Do everything possible to achieve something

is about trying hard but not necessarily with total effort

to trying

vsto put forth

1.0

To make an effort to do something

is about making extra effort to reach a goal rather than ordinary effort

to put one's darnedest

vsto put forth

Informal

7.8

To try as hard as possible to do something

expresses trying hard generally but without the strong colloquial tone

Antonyms

to give up

∞ 1.2

To stop trying to do something or accept defeat

to neglect

256 3.8

Fail to care for someone or something you should look after

How Hard

to go all out

39 4.1

to strive

156 3.7

to exert

33 4.1

to put forth

45 4.1

to try

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

put forth infinitive

put forth past

put forth past participle

putting forth present participle

puts forth third person singular

Morphology

put + forth

The literal meanings of 'put' (place/express) and 'forth' (forward) combine to give a metaphor of sending or projecting something forward, which can extend to presenting or exerting (e.g., 'put forth an idea' or 'put forth effort'), so a general sense is partly derivable. However, the mapping from physical placement to the abstract sense 'make an effort' is metaphorical and somewhat formal/collocational, so a B1 learner may not reliably infer the exact meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Put forth comes from the simple image of putting something forward: to put something forth is to push it out in front of you. That's why it now means 'to try hard' or 'to make an effort'.