try (one's) patience

try (one's) patience

To frustrate or annoy one by continued unwanted behavior; to test the limits of one's patience. His tangential questions are clearly trying the professor's patience, who asked that all questions be held until the end of the lecture. Will you take the kids to the playground for an hour? They're really trying my patience.See also: patience, try

try someone's patience

to strain someone's patience; to bother someone as if testing the person's patience. (Try means test here.) My loud neighbors are trying my patience today. You really try my patience with all your questions!See also: patience, try

try one's patience

Put one's tolerance to a severe test, cause one to be annoyed, as in Putting these parts together really tries my patience, or Her constant lateness tries our patience. This idiom uses try in the sense of "test," a usage dating from about 1300. See also: patience, try

try somebody’s ˈpatience

make somebody feel impatient: Jim’s constant complaining was really beginning to try her patience.See also: patience, try