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trouble

  • noun 1 difficulty or problems. 2 effort or exertion. 3 a cause of worry or inconvenience. 4 (in trouble) in a situation in which one is liable to incur punishment or blame. 5 public unrest or disorder.

  • verb 1 cause distress, pain, or inconvenience to. 2 (troubled) showing or experiencing problems or anxiety. 3 (trouble about/over/with) be distressed or anxious about. 4 (trouble to do) make the effort required to do.

  — PHRASES ask for trouble informal act in a way that is likely to incur problems or difficulties. look for trouble informal behave in a way that is likely to provoke an argument or fight. trouble and strife Brit. rhyming slang one’s wife. a trouble shared is a trouble halved proverb talking to someone else about one’s problems helps to alleviate them.

  — ORIGIN Old French truble, from Latin turba ‘crowd, disturbance’.

 

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