trouble
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: trŭbʹəl
ipa: /ˈtɹʌb(ə)l/
ipa: /ˈtɹʌb(ə)l/
ipa: /ˈtɹə-/
rhymes: -ʌbəl
Forms: form: troubles
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.
Senses: examples: text: He was in trouble when the rain started.
synonyms: word: ass in a sling
word: bind
word: bucket of syrup
word: calvary
word: cross
word: cross to bear
word: difficulty
word: dilemma
word: dire straits
word: doghouse
word: fix
word: hole
word: jam
word: kettle of fish
word: ordeal
word: pickle
word: pinch
word: plight
word: predicament
word: quandary
word: quagmire
word: situation
word: spot
word: spot of bother
word: sticky situation
word: sticky wicket
word: tight spot
word: trouble
glosses: A distressing or dangerous situation.
examples: text: The trouble was a leaking brake line.
text: The bridge column magnified the trouble with a slight tilt in the wrong direction.
text: Lest the fiend […] some new trouble raise.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
text: Foul whisperings are abroad; unnatural deeds / Do breed unnatural troubles.
ref: c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
glosses: A difficulty, problem, condition, or action contributing to such a situation.
examples: text: ’Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me no-ow
ref: 2021, Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback, “I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor's Version)”, in Red (Taylor's Version), performed by Taylor Swift:
glosses: A person liable to place others or themselves in such a situation.
examples: text: 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, […]
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XL”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 63:
synonyms: word: anguish
word: torment
word: anguish
word: rend
word: difficulty
word: distress
word: grief
word: hardship
word: pain
word: smart
word: torment
word: torture
word: trouble
glosses: The state of being troubled, disturbed, or distressed mentally; unease, disquiet.
examples: text: Your trouble is that you quit too readily.
text: The trouble with that suggestion is that we lack the funds to put it in motion.
synonyms: word: pain in the neck
word: defect
word: fault
word: flaw
word: imperfection
word: shortcoming
word: drawback
word: deficiency
word: inadequacy
word: peccadillo
word: bar
word: drag
word: barrier
word: bone in the throat
word: bump in the road
word: hindrance
word: impediment
word: obstruction
word: obstacle
word: encumbrance
word: hurdle
word: roadblock
word: stumbling block
word: hitch
word: annoyance
word: bother
word: faff
word: grievance
word: hassle
word: inconvenience
word: irritation
word: nuisance
word: palaver
word: peeve
word: plague
word: trouble
word: vexation
glosses: Objectionable feature of something or someone; problem, drawback, weakness, failing, or shortcoming.
examples: text: the troubles in Northern Ireland
text: “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. […]”
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
synonyms: word: palaver
word: turmoil
word: ado
word: argy-bargy
word: bangarang
word: bobbery
word: brouhaha
word: bunfight
word: bustle
word: bust-up
word: chaos
word: clamour
word: clatter
word: commotion
word: disruption
word: disturbance
word: flap
word: foofaraw
word: fracas
word: furor
word: fuss
word: hobbleshaw
word: hoo-ha
word: hoo-hah
word: hubbub
word: hullabaloo
word: hurly-burly
word: kerfuffle
word: mayhem
word: merry hell
word: outcry
word: palaver
word: pandemonium
word: pother
word: quarrel
word: riot
word: rowdydow
word: ruckus
word: rumpus
word: shemozzle
word: shindy
word: splatterdash
word: stir
word: stooshie
word: three-ring circus
word: to-do
word: tomfoolery
word: trouble
word: tumult
word: turmoil
word: unrest
word: uproar
word: upstir
glosses: Violent or turbulent occurrence or event; unrest, disturbance.
examples: text: It’s no trouble for me to edit it.
text: She never took the trouble to close them.
ref: 1850, William Cullen Bryant, Letters of a Traveller:
text: Indeed, by the report of our elders, this nervous preparation for old age is only trouble thrown away.
ref: 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:
glosses: Efforts taken or expended, typically beyond the normal required.
examples: text: She has trouble eating.
glosses: Difficulty in doing something.
examples: text: He’s been in hospital with some heart trouble.
synonyms: word: affliction
word: malady
word: affliction
word: ailment
word: coath
word: complaint
word: disease
word: disorder
word: egritude
word: ill health
word: illness
word: indisposition
word: sickness
word: trouble
word: malady
word: morbus
word: rot
glosses: Health problems, ailment, generally of some particular part of the body.
examples: text: My old car has engine trouble.
glosses: A malfunction.
examples: text: He had some trouble with the law.
glosses: Liability to punishment; conflict with authority.
topics: business
mining
glosses: A fault or interruption in a stratum.
synonyms: word: ball and chain
word: better half
word: boss
word: bride
word: dutch
word: 'er indoors
word: frow
word: geezer
word: her indoors
word: lady
word: little woman
word: little lady
word: memsahib
word: missus
word: old lady
word: old woman
word: trouble
word: trouble and strife
word: wife
word: wifekin
word: wifelet
word: wifeling
word: wifey
glosses: Wife. Clipping of trouble and strife.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1971, Bob Stone, “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves”, performed by Cher:
glosses: An unplanned, unwanted or undesired pregnancy.
Derived terms: ask for trouble
a trouble shared is a trouble halved
borrow trouble
distrouble
double trouble
double-trouble
engine trouble
finger trouble
for one's trouble
foul trouble
get into trouble
girl trouble
good trouble
go through the trouble
go to the trouble
in a world of trouble
in trouble
look for trouble
picking quarrels and making trouble
picking quarrels and provoking trouble
picking quarrels and stirring up trouble
shoot trouble
take the trouble
teething trouble
teething troubles
The Troubles
time trouble
trouble and strife
trouble at mill
trouble at the mill
trouble at t'mill
trouble causer
trouble-causer
troubled
trouble-free
trouble in paradise
trouble light
trouble-maker
troublemaker
trouble maker
trouble-monger
troubler
troubleshoot
troubleshooter
troubleshooting
troublesome
trouble spot
trouble ticket
trouble ticket system
trubs
women's troubles