Definition of "effort"

The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company

The 30-year-old South Korean, who joined United in 2005, retired from international duty after last season's Asian Cup in an effort to prolong his club

2011 June 22, Press Association, “Manchester United offer Park Ji-sung a new two-year contract”, in The Guardian

Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.

2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4

But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.

2012 March, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87

the two bodies between which the effort acts

1858, Macquorn Rankine, Manual of Applied Mechanics

When old, he lived in London where, being High-minded and Poor, he was exposed to the contempt of disingenuous persons. Yet he efforted his Spirits with a Commemoration of the Days of Old.

1684, Thomas Fuller, G. S., Anglorum Speculum: Or The Worthies of England, in Church and State‎