The phrase "attempt to retrieve it" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when describing an effort to recover or get back something that has been lost or misplaced.
Example: "After the system crash, the IT team made an attempt to retrieve it from the backup server."
Alternatives: "try to recover it" or "make an effort to get it back."
"The message to our customers is clear: If you drop something on the tracks, do not attempt to retrieve it.
Three receivers were sent deep, one to tip the ball, two others to attempt to retrieve it.
"Clarke's associate grabbed my iPad and left the event with Clarke, who walked down the road holding the iPad, as I and McCormick followed to attempt to retrieve it.
Abandonment may occur by throwing away the property, by losing it and making no attempt to retrieve it, by vacating the property with no intention of returning to it, or by any other act manifesting a complete disclaimer of ownership in the property.
If an object is completely hidden however the baby makes no attempt to retrieve it.
More Shit: Proctologists' top finds: vibrators, salt and pepper shakers, pens, candles, a tapered chandelier lightbulb, and a glass bottle, shattered by the patient's attempt to retrieve it themselves (try not to shudder when picturing that).
Russian lookouts observed the Western signal buoy, but attempts to retrieve it failed in high seas, he said.
Fryatt knocks the ball past Koscielny and attempts to retrieve it but the Frenchman is faster and wins the race.
He lifted it high above his head like he had earned it, and his fans went wild as Aldo attempted to retrieve it.
The Aleppo Codex was one of their top priorities, but numerous attempts to retrieve it were thwarted, which for many Jews hailing from Aleppo was further proof of the myths surrounding the book.
The men abandoned their attempts to retrieve it and fled.
