# problem

Pronunciation: US say "PRAH-bluhm" /ˈpɹɑbləm/; UK say "PROB-luhm" /ˈpɹɒbləm/

## Noun

1. A difficulty or harmful situation or condition that must be dealt with or overcome.
   - Simple: Something that causes difficulty or harm and needs to be dealt with.
   - _The leak in the roof became a serious problem during the storm._
   - _Management spent weeks trying to solve the staffing problem._
2. A question to be answered or an exercise to be worked through, especially as schoolwork.
   - Simple: A question or exercise you have to work out, often in school.
   - _Each problem in the textbook builds on the one before it._
   - _She finished every problem on the worksheet before the bell rang._
3. An objection to something, or difficulty or unwillingness in accepting or agreeing with it.
   - Simple: A reason you don't like, agree with, or accept something, as in 'I have a problem with that.'
   - _The committee voiced one problem with the proposal before approving it._
   - _I see no problem with starting the meeting an hour earlier._
5. A puzzling or confusing circumstance that is hard to account for.
   - Simple: A strange situation that is hard to understand or explain.
   - _The disappearance of the funds remained a problem no auditor could explain._
   - _How the cat reached the roof was a problem that puzzled the whole family._

## Adjective

4. Causing trouble or difficulty; hard to deal with, manage, or control.
   - Simple: Causing trouble or hard to control, as in 'a problem child' or 'problem loans.'
   - _The bank quietly sold its problem loans to a collection agency._
   - _The report highlighted several problem areas in the budget._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In climbing, the sequence of moves a climber must work out and execute to complete a particular route.

## Origin

Ancient Greek próblēma, meaning "an obstacle, a hindrance, anything thrown forward," passed through Latin problēma and Middle French probleme into Middle English as probleme. The Greek noun came from probállō ("to put forward"), made of pro- ("in front of") and bállō ("to throw").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/problem (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).