Meaning of "take a stab at doing something" [closed]

Solution 1:

As everybody has said, to take a stab at means to attempt. I want to additionally note here that I believe it to be related to the idiom stab in the dark, meaning an attempt at something with little guidance or hope of success. It doesn't carry the full weight of that meaning, though, just an attenuated implication of not necessarily knowing what one is doing, more likely used as mild self-deprecating humor than anything else.

Solution 2:

It is simply an informal way of saying "make an attempt".

The following are all equivalent answers to the question of "Do you want to do (something)?"

Sure, I'll take a stab at it.

Sure, I'll give it a try.

Sure, I'll have a go at it.

Solution 3:

Stab at means attempting to do something.

The NOAD report the following example:

Meredith made a feeble stab at joining in.