Trouble

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: trou=ble

CIDE DICTIONARY

Trouble, v. t. [F. troubler, OF. trobler, trubler, tourbler,fr. (assumed) LL. turbulare, L. turbare to disorderly group, a little crowd; both from turba a disorder, tumult, crowd; akin to Gr. , and perhaps to E. thorp; cf. Skr. tvar, tur,o hasten. Cf. Turbid.].

•  To put into confused motion; to disturb; to agitate.  [1913 Webster]

  "An angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water."  [1913 Webster]

  "God looking forth will trouble all his host."  [1913 Webster]
•  To disturb; to perplex; to afflict; to distress; to grieve; to fret; to annoy; to vex.  [1913 Webster]

  "Now is my soul troubled."  [1913 Webster]

  "Take the boy to you; he so troubles me
  'T is past enduring."  [1913 Webster]

  "Never trouble yourself about those faults which age will cure."  [1913 Webster]
•  To give occasion for labor to; -- used in polite phraseology; as, I will not trouble you to deliver the letter.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- To disturb; perplex; afflict; distress; grieve; harass; annoy; tease; vex; molest.

Trouble, a. 

 Troubled; dark; gloomy.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

Trouble, n. [F. trouble, OF. troble, truble. See Trouble, v. t.].

•  The state of being troubled; disturbance; agitation; uneasiness; vexation; calamity.  [1913 Webster]

  "Lest the fiend . . . some new trouble raise."  [1913 Webster]

  "Foul whisperings are abroad; unnatural deeds
  Do breed unnatural troubles."  [1913 Webster]
•  That which gives disturbance, annoyance, or vexation; that which afflicts.  [1913 Webster]
•  A fault or interruption in a stratum.  [1913 Webster]

  "She never took the trouble to close them."  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Affliction; disturbance; perplexity; annoyance; molestation; vexation; inconvenience; calamity; misfortune; adversity; embarrassment; anxiety; sorrow; misery.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Trouble, n. & v.
--n.
1 difficulty or distress; vexation, affliction (am having trouble with my car).
2 a inconvenience; unpleasant exertion; bother (went to a lot of trouble). b a cause of this (the child was no trouble).
3 a cause of annoyance or concern (the trouble with you is that you can't say no).
4 a faulty condition or operation (kidney trouble; engine trouble).
5 a fighting, disturbance (crowd trouble; don't want any trouble). b (in pl.) political or social unrest, public disturbances.
6 disagreement, strife (is having trouble at home).
--v.
1 tr. cause distress or anxiety to; disturb (were much troubled by their debts).
2 intr. be disturbed or worried (don't trouble about it).
3 tr. afflict; cause pain etc. to (am troubled with arthritis).
4 tr. & intr. (often refl.) subject or be subjected to inconvenience or unpleasant exertion (sorry to trouble you; don't trouble yourself; don't trouble to explain).

Idiom

ask (or look) for trouble colloq. invite trouble or difficulty by one's actions, behaviour, etc.; behave rashly or indiscreetly. be no trouble cause no inconvenience etc. go to the trouble (or some trouble etc.) exert oneself to do something. in trouble 1 involved in a matter likely to bring censure or punishment.
2 colloq. pregnant while unmarried. take trouble (or the trouble) exert oneself to do something. trouble and strife rhymingsl. wife. trouble spot a place where difficulties regularly occur.

Derivative

troubler n.

Etymology

ME f. OF truble (n.), trubler, turbler (v.) ult. f. L turbidus TURBID

THESAURUS

Trouble

Dutch, abuse a privilege, ado, adverse circumstances, adversity, afflict, affliction, aggravate, aggravation, agitate, agitation, ail, ailment, alarm, all-overs, angst, anguish, annoy, annoyance, anxiety, anxiety hysteria, anxiety neurosis, anxious bench, anxious concern, anxious seat, anxiousness, apprehension, apprehensiveness, awkwardness, bad news, be concerned, be the matter, beat, beat up, bedevilment, beset, besetment, bind, bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, blight, bore, bother, botheration, bothersomeness, brawl, broil, brouhaha, bug, bummer, burden, burden of care, burdening, burthen, bustle, can of worms, cankerworm of care, care, cargo, charge, charging, churn, churn up, clumsiness, commotion, complaint, complicate matters, concern, concernment, convulse, crashing bore, cross, crown of thorns, cumbrance, curse, deadweight, defect, demand, destroy, devilment, difficulties, difficulty, disability, disaccommodate, disadvantage, disarrange, discombobulate, discomfit, discomfort, discommode, discommodity, discompose, disconcert, discord, discountenance, disease, disoblige, disorder, dispute, disquiet, disquietude, dissatisfaction, distract, distress, disturb, disturbance, dogging, donnybrook, donnybrook fair, downer, drag, dread, dustup, effort, elbow grease, electrify, embarrassment, embroil, embroilment, encroach upon, encumber, encumbrance, endeavor, energy, evil, exaction, exasperate, exasperation, excite, exertion, fear, ferment, fight, fighting, flurry, fluster, flutter, foofaraw, foreboding, forebodingness, fracas, frazzle, free-for-all, freight, freighting, fret, fuss, gall, gall and wormwood, give concern, great ado, grief, grievance, grieve, hamper, handicap, harass, harassment, hard knocks, hard life, hard lot, hard pull, hardcase, hardship, harm, harry, harrying, hassle, haunt, headache, heckler, hector, helter-skelter, hot water, hounding, hubbub, illness, impediment, impedimenta, impose, impose on, impose upon, imposing an onus, imposition, in a mess, in a pickle, in a predicament, in a scrape, in trouble, incommode, incommodity, inconsiderateness, inconvenience, inconveniency, inconvenientness, infliction, inquietude, intrude, irk, irritate, irritation, jar, jolt, laying on, load, load with care, loading, loading down, long pull, lumber, make free with, malaise, matter, melee, might and main, misgiving, molestation, muscle, nag, nerve and sinew, nervous strain, nervous tension, nervousness, nettle, nudnik, nuisance, obtrude upon, obtrusiveness, on the spot, onus, oppression, outbreak, overanxiety, overstep, pack, pack of troubles, paddle, pain, pains, peck of troubles, pell-mell, penalty, perplex, persecution, perturb, perturbate, perturbation, pest, pester, pins and needles, plague, plight, pother, predicament, pressure, presume on, presume upon, presumptuousness, problem, provoke, psych, pucker, put about, put out, put to inconvenience, put to it, put to trouble, puzzle, racket, rampage, rebellion, revolt, rigor, rile, riot, ripple, rock, roil, rough-and-tumble, roughen, roughhouse, row, rowel, ruckus, ruction, ruffle, rumple, rumpus, scramble, sea of troubles, shake, shake up, shindy, shock, sickness, skirmish, solicitude, sorrow, spook, stagger, stew, stir, stir up, strain, stress, stress of life, strife, suffering, suspense, swirl, take a liberty, take liberties, take pains, tasking, taxing, tension, thank, thorn, throw, throw into confusion, to-do, torment, tormenter, trial, tribulation, troubles, troublesomeness, try, tumult, turbulence, turmoil, uneasiness, unhandiness, unpleasantness, unquietness, unrest, unsettle, unwarranted demand, unwieldiness, uprising, uproar, upset, vale of tears, vex, vexation, vexatiousness, vicissitude, waters of bitterness, weigh down, weight, weighting, while, whip, whip up, whisk, white elephant, woe, work up, worriment, worry, zeal

ROGET THESAURUS

Trouble

Disorder

N disorder, derangement, irregularity, anomaly, anarchy, anarchism, want of method, untidiness, disunion, discord, confusion, confusedness, mishmash, mix, disarray, jumble, huddle, litter, lumber, cahotage, farrago, mess, mash, muddle, muss, hash, hodgepodge, hotch-potch, hotch-pot, imbroglio, chaos, omnium gatherum, medley, mere mixture, fortuitous concourse of atoms, disjecta membra, rudis indigestaque moles, complexity, turmoil, ferment, to-do, trouble, pudder, pother, row, rumble, disturbance, hubbub, convulsion, tumult, uproar, revolution, riot, rumpus, stour, scramble, brawl, fracas, rhubarb, fight, free-for-all, row, ruction, rumpus, embroilment, melee, spill and pelt, rough and tumble, whirlwind, bear garden, Babel, Saturnalia, donnybrook, Donnybrook Fair, confusion worse confounded, most admired disorder, concordia discors, Bedlam, all hell broke loose, bull in a china shop, all the fat in the fire, diable a' quatre, Devil to pay, pretty kettle of fish, pretty piece of work, pretty piece of business, disorderly person, disorderly persons offence, misdemeanor, slattern, slut (libertine), disorderly, orderless, out of order, out of place, out of gear, irregular, desultory, anomalous, acephalous, deranged, aimless, disorganized, straggling, unmethodical, immethodical, unsymmetric, unsystematic, untidy, slovenly, dislocated, out of sorts, promiscuous, indiscriminate, chaotic, anarchical, unarranged &c (arrange), confused, deranged, topsy-turvy, shapeless, disjointed, out of joint, troublous, riotous, complex, irregularly, by fits, by fits and snatches, by fits and starts, pellmell, higgledy-piggledy, helter-skelter, harum-scarum, in a ferment, at sixes and sevens, at cross-purposes, upside down, the cart before the horse, hysteron proteron, chaos is come again, the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.

Derangement

VB derange, disarrange, misarrange, displace, misplace, mislay, discompose, disorder, deorganize, discombobulate, disorganize, embroil, unsettle, disturb, confuse, trouble, perturb, jumble, tumble, shuffle, randomize, huddle, muddle, toss, hustle, fumble, riot, bring into disorder, put into disorder, throw into disorder, muss, break the ranks, disconcert, convulse, break in upon, unhinge, dislocate, put out of joint, throw out of gear, turn topsy-turvy, bedevil, complicate, involve, perplex, confound, imbrangle, embrangle, tangle, entangle, ravel, tousle, towzle, dishevel, ruffle, rumple, litter, scatter, mix, rearrange.

Activity

VB be active, busy oneself in, stir, stir about, stir one's stumps, bestir oneself, rouse oneself, speed, hasten, peg away, lay about one, bustle, fuss, raise up, kick up a dust, push, make a push, make a fuss, make a stir, go ahead, push forward, fight one's way, elbow one's way, make progress, toll, plod, persist, keep up the ball, keep the pot boiling, look sharp, have all one's eyes about one, rise, arouse oneself, hustle, get up early, be about, keep moving, steal a march, kill two birds with one stone, seize the opportunity, lose no time, not lose a moment, make the most of one's time, not suffer the grass to grow under one's feet, improve the shining hour, make short work of, dash off, make haste, do one's best take pains, do wonders, work wonders, have many irons in the fire, have one's hands full, have much on one's hands, have other things to do, have other fish to fry, be busy, not have a moment to spare, not have a moment that one can call one's own, have one's fling, run the round of, go all lengths, stick at nothing, run riot, outdo, overdo, overact, overlay, overshoot the mark, make a toil of a pleasure, have a hand in, take an active part, put in one's oar, have a finger in the pie, mix oneself up with, trouble, one's head about, intrigue, agitate, tamper with, meddle, moil, intermeddle, interfere, interpose, obtrude, poke one's nose in, thrust one's nose in.

Exertion

N exertion, effort, strain, tug, pull, stress, throw, stretch, struggle, spell, spurt, spirt, stroke of work, stitch of work, a strong pull a long pull and a pull all together, dead lift, heft, gymnastics, exercise, exercitation, wear and tear, ado, toil and trouble, uphill work, hard work, warm work, harvest time, labor, work, toil, travail, manual labor, sweat of one's brow, swink, drudgery, slavery, fagging, hammering, limae labor, industry, industriousness, operoseness, operosity, trouble, pains, duty, resolution, energy, laboring, laborious, operose, elaborate, strained, toilsome, troublesome, wearisome, uphill, herculean, gymnastic, palestric, hard-working, painstaking, strenuous, energetic, hard at work, on the stretch, laboriously, lustily, pugnis et calcibus, with might and main, with all one's might, with a strong hand, with a sledge hammer, with much ado, to the best of one's abilities, totis viribus, vi et armis, manibus pedibusque, tooth and nail, unguibus et rostro, hammer and tongs, heart and soul, through thick and thin, by the sweat of one's brow, suo Marte, aide-toi le ciel t'aidera, and still be doing, never done, buen principio la mitad es hecha, cosa ben fatta e' fatta due volie, it is better to wear out than to rust out, labor omnia vincit, labor, wide as the earth, has its summit in Heaven, le travail du corps delivre des peines de l'esprit, manu forti, ora et labora.

Adversity

N adversity, evil, failure, bad luck, ill luck, evil luck, adverse luck, hard fortune, hard hap, hard luck, hard lot, frowns of fortune, evil dispensation, evil star, evil genius, vicissitudes of life, ups and downs of life, broken fortunes, hard case, hard lines, hard life, sea of troubles, peck of troubles, hell upon earth, slough of despond, trouble, hardship, curse, blight, blast, load, pressure, pressure of the times, iron age, evil day, time out of joint, hard times, bad times, sad times, rainy day, cloud, dark cloud, gathering clouds, ill wind, visitation, infliction, affliction, bitter pill, care, trial, the sport of fortune, mishap, mischance, misadventure, misfortune, disaster, calamity, catastrophe, accident, casualty, cross, reverse, check, contretemps, rub, backset, comedown, setback, losing game, falling, fall, downfall, ruination, ruinousness, undoing, extremity, ruin, unfortunate, unblest, unhappy, unlucky, improsperous, unprosperous, hoodooed, luckless, hapless, out of luck, in trouble, in a bad way, in an evil plight, under a cloud, clouded, ill off, badly off, in adverse circumstances, poor, behindhand, down in the world, decayed, undone, on the road to ruin, on its last legs, on the wane, in one's utmost need, planet-struck, devoted, born under an evil star, born with a wooden ladle in one's mouth, ill-fated, ill-starred, ill-omened, adverse, untoward, disastrous, calamitous, ruinous, dire, deplorable.

Pain

N mental suffering, pain, dolor, suffering, sufferance, ache, smart, passion, displeasure, dissatisfaction, discomfort, discomposure, disquiet, malaise, inquietude, uneasiness, vexation of spirit, taking, discontent, dejection, weariness, anhedonia, annoyance, irritation, worry, infliction, visitation, plague, bore, bother, botheration, stew, vexation, mortification, chagrin, esclandre, mauvais quart d'heur, care, anxiety, solicitude, trouble, trial, ordeal, fiery ordeal, shock, blow, cark, dole, fret, burden, load, concern, grief, sorrow, distress, affliction, woe, bitterness, heartache, carking cares, heavy heart, aching heart, bleeding heart, broken heart, heavy affliction, gnawing grief, unhappiness, infelicity, misery, tribulation, wretchedness, desolation, despair, extremity, prostration, depth of misery, nightmare, ephialtes, incubus, pang, anguish, agony, torture, torment, purgatory, hell upon earth, iron age, reign of terror, slough of despond, peck of troubles, ills that flesh is heir to, miseries of human life, unkindest cut of all, sufferer, victim, prey, martyr, object of compassion, wretch, shorn lamb, in pain, in a state of pain, full of pain, suffering, pained, afflicted, worried, displeased, aching, griped, sore, on the rack, in limbo, between hawk and buzzard, uncomfortable, uneasy, ill at ease, in a taking, in a way, disturbed, discontented, out of humor, weary, heavy laden, stricken, crushed, a prey to, victimized, ill-used, unfortunate, to be pitied, doomed, devoted, accursed, undone, lost, stranded, fey, unhappy, infelicitous, poor, wretched, miserable, woe-begone, cheerless, careworn, concerned, sorry, sorrowing, sorrowful, cut up, chagrined, horrified, horror-stricken, in grief, plunged in grief, a prey to grief, in tears, steeped to the lips in misery, heart-stricken, heart-broken, heart-scalded, broken-hearted, in despair, the iron entered into our soul, haeret lateri lethalis arundo, one's heart bleeding, down, thou climbing sorrow, mirth cannot move a soul in agony, nessun maggior dolere che ricordarsi del tempo fel, sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier th, the Niobe of Nations.

Painfulness

N painfulness, trouble, care, trial, affliction, infliction, blow, stroke, burden, load, curse, bitter pill, bitter draught, waters of bitterness, annoyance, grievance, nuisance, vexation, mortification, sickener, bore, bother, pother, hot water, sea of troubles, hornet's nest, plague, pest, cancer, ulcer, sting, thorn, canker, scorpion, dagger, scourge, carking care, canker worm of care, mishap, misfortune, desagrement, esclandre, rub, source of irritation, source of annoyance, wound, open sore, sore subject, skeleton in the closet, thorn in the flesh, thorn in one's side, where the shoe pinches, gall and wormwood, sorry sight, heavy news, provocation, affront, head and front of one's offending, infestation, molestation, malignity, causing pain, hurting, hurtful, painful, dolorific, dolorous, unpleasant, unpleasing, displeasing, disagreeable, unpalatable, bitter, distasteful, uninviting, unwelcome, undesirable, undesired, obnoxious, unacceptable, unpopular, thankless, unsatisfactory, untoward, unlucky, uncomfortable, distressing, afflicting, afflictive, joyless, cheerless, comfortless, dismal, disheartening, depressing, depressive, dreary, melancholy, grievous, piteous, woeful, rueful, mournful, deplorable, pitiable, lamentable, sad, affecting, touching, pathetic, irritating, provoking, stinging, annoying, aggravating, mortifying, galling, unaccommodating, invidious, vexatious, troublesome, tiresome, irksome, wearisome, plaguing, plaguy, awkward, importunate, teasing, pestering, bothering, harassing, worrying, tormenting, carking, intolerable, insufferable, insupportable, unbearable, unendurable, past bearing, not to be borne, not to be endured, more than flesh and blood can bear, enough to drive one mad, enough to provoke a saint, enough to make a parson swear, enough to gag a maggot, shocking, terrific, grim, appalling, crushing, dreadful, fearful, frightful, thrilling, tremendous, dire, heart-breaking, heart-rending, heart-wounding, heart-corroding, heart-sickening, harrowing, rending, odious, hateful, execrable, repulsive, repellent, abhorrent, horrid, horrible, horrific, horrifying, offensive, nauseous, nauseating, disgusting, sickening, revolting, nasty, loathsome, loathful, fulsome, vile, hideous, sharp, acute, sore, severe, grave, hard, harsh, cruel, biting, caustic, cutting, corroding, consuming, racking, excruciating, searching, grinding, grating, agonizing, envenomed, catheretic, pyrotic, ruinous, disastrous, calamitous, tragical, desolating, withering, burdensome, onerous, oppressive, cumbrous, cumbersome, painfully, with pain, deuced, Int, hinc illae lachrymae!, surgit amari aliquid, the place being too hot to hold one, the iron entering into the soul, he jests at scars that never felt a wound, I must be cruel only to be kind, what deep wounds ever closed without a scar?.

VB cause pain, occasion pain, give pain, bring pain, induce pain, produce pain, create pain, inflict pain, pain, hurt, wound, pinch, prick, gripe, pierce, lancinate, cut, hurt the feelings, wound the feelings, grate upon the feelings, grate upon the nerves, jar upon the feelings, wring the heart, pierce the heart, lacerate the heart, break the heart, rend the heart, make the heart bleed, tear the heart strings, rend the heart strings, draw tears from the eyes, sadden, make unhappy, plunge into sorrow, grieve, fash, afflict, distress, cut up, cut to the heart, displease, annoy, incommode, discompose, trouble, disquiet, faze, feaze, feeze, disturb, cross, perplex, molest, tease, tire, irk, vex, mortify, wherret, worry, plague, bother, pester, bore, pother, harass, harry, badger, heckle, bait, beset, infest, persecute, importune, wring, harrow, torment, torture, bullyrag, put to the rack, put to the question, break on the wheel, rack, scarify, cruciate, crucify, convulse, agonize, barb the dart, plant a dagger in the breast, plant a thorn in one's side, irritate, provoke, sting, nettle, try the patience, pique, fret, rile, tweak the nose, chafe, gall, sting to the quick, wound to the quick, cut to the quick, aggrieve, affront, enchafe, enrage, ruffle, sour the temper, give offense, maltreat, bite, snap at, assail, smite, sicken, disgust, revolt, nauseate, disenchant, repel, offend, shock, stink in the nostrils, go against the stomach, turn the stomach, make one sick, set the teeth on edge, go against the grain, grate on the ear, stick in one's throat, stick in one's gizzard, rankle, gnaw, corrode, horrify, appal, appall, freeze the blood, make the flesh creep, make the hair stand on end, make the blood curdle, make the blood run cold, make one shudder, haunt the memory, weigh on the heart, prey on the heart, weigh on the mind, prey on the mind, weigh on the spirits, prey on the spirits, bring one's gray hairs with sorrow to the grave, add a nail to one's coffin.