Men not beginning to attempt record (5)
I believe the answer is:
entry
'record' is the definition.
(eg entry in a list)
'men not beginning to attempt' is the wordplay.
'not beginning' means to remove the first letter.
'to attempt' becomes 'try' (synonyms).
'men' with its initial letter taken away is 'en'.
'en'+'try'='ENTRY'
(Other definitions for entry that I've seen before include "Lobby" , "List of competitors" , "candidate" , "Door, access" , "Access point" .)