worry
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwʌɹi/
note: without the hurry–furry merger
ipa: /ˈwʌɹi/
note: General American, Canada, hurry–furry merger
ipa: /ˈwɝi/
ipa: /ˈwʊɹi/
ipa: /ˈwɒɹi/
ipa: /ˈwəʊɹi/
rhymes: -ʌɹi
Forms: form: worries
form: worrying
form: worried
form: worried
Etymology: From Middle English worien, werien, wirien, wirwen, wyryȝen (“to choke, strangle”), from Old English wyrġan, from Proto-Germanic *wurgijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ- (“bind, squeeze”).
Cognate with Dutch worgen, wurgen, German würgen. Compare Latin urgere (“to press, push”), Sanskrit वृहति (vṛhati, “to tear out, pluck”), Lithuanian ver̃žti (“to string; squeeze”), Russian (poetic) отверза́ть (otverzátʹ, “to open”, literally “to untie”). Related to wring.
Senses: examples: text: So you go along for a long time / And nothing seems to worry your mind / But what it adds up to / It's the side effect / That finally gets to you
ref: 1983, Ashford & Simpson, “Side Effect”, in High-Rise (album):
glosses: To be troubled; to give way to mental anxiety or doubt.
examples: text: Your tone of voice worries me.
text: That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition.
ref: 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
glosses: Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress; to exercise.
examples: text: The President was worried into military action by persistent advisors.
glosses: To harass; to irritate or distress.
examples: text: Your dog’s been worrying sheep again.
text: This is the Dog, that worried the Cat, that killed the Rat, that ate the Malt, that lay in the Houſe that Jack built.
ref: 1784, The House that Jack Built, page 7:
glosses: To seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf.
examples: text: Christian paced the caravan, worrying his beard.
ref: 1957, Sydney J. Bounds, The Robot Brains, London: Digit Books, page 58:
text: So what if I wanted to touch my nose to the windshield? Who was it hurting? Why was it that he could repeatedly worry his change and bite his lower lip without the threat of punishment?
ref: 1997, David Sedaris, “A Plague of Tics”, in Naked, page 15:
text: No stories, no arguments. He just worries his prayer beads.
ref: 2002, Masha Hamilton, Staircase of a Thousand Steps, page 272:
glosses: To touch repeatedly; to fiddle with.
examples: text: We read (Law's Memor. Pref. lix.) that "one John Brugh, a notorious warlock (wizard) in the parochin of Fossoquhy, by the space of thirty-six years, was worried at a stake and burned, 1643."
ref: 1891, “Journal of Jurisprudence and Scottish Law Magazine”, in Execution of the Judgment of Death, page 397:
glosses: To strangle.
Synonyms: sense: be troubled mentally
word: fret
sense: be troubled mentally
word: stress
sense: be troubled mentally
word: fuss
sense: trouble someone mentally
word: concern
sense: trouble someone mentally
word: fret
sense: trouble someone mentally
word: preoccupy
sense: trouble someone mentally
word: vex
sense: trouble someone mentally
word: gnaw
Derived terms: beworry
don't worry
don't worry your pretty little head
not to worry
worried
worry along
worry back
worry down
worry someone sick