trouble

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A distressing or dangerous situation.
2. (countable, uncountable) A difficulty, problem, condition, or action contributing to such a situation.
3. (countable, uncountable) A person liable to place others or themselves in such a situation.
4. (countable, uncountable) The state of being troubled, disturbed, or distressed mentally; unease, disquiet.
5. (countable, uncountable) Objectionable feature of something or someone; problem, drawback, weakness, failing, or shortcoming.
6. (countable, uncountable) Violent or turbulent occurrence or event; unrest, disturbance.
7. (countable, uncountable) Efforts taken or expended, typically beyond the normal required.
8. (countable, uncountable) Difficulty in doing something.
9. (countable, uncountable) Health problems, ailment, generally of some particular part of the body.
10. (countable, uncountable) A malfunction.
11. (countable, uncountable) Liability to punishment; conflict with authority.
12. (countable, uncountable) A fault or interruption in a stratum.
13. (Cockney, countable, slang, uncountable) Wife. Clipping of trouble and strife.
14. (countable, dated, slang, uncountable) An unplanned, unwanted or undesired pregnancy.

Verb

1. (archaic, transitive) To disturb, stir up, agitate (a medium, especially water).
2. (transitive) To mentally distress; to cause (someone) to be anxious or perplexed.
3. (transitive) In weaker sense: to bother or inconvenience.
4. (transitive, usually) To physically afflict.
5. (intransitive, reflexive) To take pains (to do something); to bother.
6. (intransitive) To worry; to be anxious.

Synonyms

difficulty

worry

bother

distress

problem

disturb

annoy

annoyance

misfortune

hardship

inconvenience

affliction

pain

suffering

harass

torment

vex

vexation

disturbance

anxiety

hassle

tease

effort

pester

quarrel

sorrow

irritate

afflict

upset

fuss

calamity

agitate

toil

dispute

disquiet

grief

pains

molest

care

labour

obstacle

concern

labor

perturb

disorder

nuisance

burden

difficulties

harm

confusion

Translations

difficulté

problème

Schwierigkeit

Mühe

problema

peine

problema

Sorge

déranger

molestar

ennui

Problem

gêner

problema

difficoltà

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtɹʌb(ə)l/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: troublen

Inherited from Middle English: truble

In summary

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.

Sentences

Had our instruments permitted it , we might have been able to see the trouble way back when .

Giles and Dawn both have trouble sleeping and go for a snack .