trouble
verb
- to upset slightly
- to exert effort
noun
- situation causing distress or danger, or a difficulty, problem, condition, or action contributing to such a situation.
- act or process of exerting effort or doing something that causes one extra work
- act or process of fighting; engaging in or inciting conflict (usually violent)
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈtɹʌbəl/ / [ˈtɹʌbɫ̩] / /ˈtɹʊbəl/
noun
Etymology: Verb is from Middle English troublen, trouble, borrowed from Old French troubler, trobler, trubler, metathetic variants of tourbler, torbler, turbler, from Vulgar Latin *turbulō, from Latin turbula (“disorderly group, a little crowd or people”), diminutive of turba (“stir; crowd”). The noun is from Middle English trouble, troble, from Old French troble, from the verb.
- A distressing or dangerous situation.
“He was in trouble when the rain started.”
- A difficulty, problem, condition, or action contributing to such a situation.
“The trouble was a leaking brake line.”
“The bridge column magnified the trouble with a slight tilt in the wrong direction.”
- A person liable to place others or themselves in such a situation.
“’Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in So shame on me no-ow”
- The state of being troubled, disturbed, or distressed mentally; unease, disquiet.
“Yet oft when sundown skirts the moor An inner trouble I behold, A spectral doubt which makes me cold, That I shall be thy mate no more, […]”
- Objectionable feature of something or someone; problem, drawback, weakness, failing, or shortcoming.
“Your trouble is that you quit too readily.”
“The trouble with that suggestion is that we lack the funds to put it in motion.”
- Violent or turbulent occurrence or event; unrest, disturbance.
“the troubles in Northern Ireland”
““I don’t know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there’ll be trouble. It’s bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that ’cause I'm paid for it. What I won’t stand is to have them togs called a livery. […]””
- Efforts taken or expended, typically beyond the normal required.
“It’s no trouble for me to edit it.”
“She never took the trouble to close them.”
- Difficulty in doing something.
“She has trouble eating.”
- Health problems, ailment, generally of some particular part of the body.
“He’s been in hospital with some heart trouble.”
- A malfunction.
“My old car has engine trouble.”
- Liability to punishment; conflict with authority.
“He had some trouble with the law.”
- A fault or interruption in a stratum.
- Wife. Clipping of trouble and strife.
- An unplanned, unwanted or undesired pregnancy.
“I never had schoolin’ but he taught me well / With his smooth southern style / Three months later I’m a gal in trouble / And I haven’t seen him for a while.”
verb
Etymology: Verb is from Middle English troublen, trouble, borrowed from Old French troubler, trobler, trubler, metathetic variants of tourbler, torbler, turbler, from Vulgar Latin *turbulō, from Latin turbula (“disorderly group, a little crowd or people”), diminutive of turba (“stir; crowd”). The noun is from Middle English trouble, troble, from Old French troble, from the verb.
- To disturb, stir up, agitate (a medium, especially water).
“For an Angel went downe at a certaine season into the poole, and troubled the water:”
“God looking forth will trouble all his Hoſt”
- To mentally distress; to cause (someone) to be anxious or perplexed.
“What she said about narcissism is troubling me.”
“Now is my soule troubled, and what shall I say? Father, saue me from this houre, but for this cause came I vnto this houre.”
- In weaker sense: to bother or inconvenience.
“I will not trouble you to deliver the letter.”
- To physically afflict.
“My bad knee is troubling me.”
- To take pains (to do something); to bother.
“I won’t trouble to post the letter today; I can do it tomorrow.”
“« The hut’s not very tidy, if you don’t mind, » he said. « I cleared it what I could. » / « But I didn’t want you to trouble! » she said.”
- To worry; to be anxious.
“Why trouble about the future? It is wholly uncertain.”