# trouble

Pronunciation: say "TRUB-uhl" /ˈtɹʌb(ə)l/

## Noun

1. Difficulty in doing something.
   - Simple: Difficulty doing something.
   - _Without her glasses, she has real trouble reading the small print on the menu._
   - _Readers have trouble telling the twins apart in the first chapters._
2. A distressing or dangerous situation.
   - Simple: A bad or dangerous situation.
   - _He was in trouble the moment the rain started and the river rose._
   - _The company is in serious trouble after losing its biggest client._
3. A difficulty, problem, condition, or action that contributes to a distressing situation.
   - Simple: A problem, or something that causes a problem.
   - _The trouble started when the factory closed and half the town lost their jobs._
   - _Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles, the doctor says in Macbeth._
5. The risk of punishment, or a clash with the law or another authority.
   - Simple: Being likely to be punished, or being in conflict with the police or another authority.
   - _He had some trouble with the law in his twenties and never spoke of it._
   - _Anyone caught in the building after hours is in trouble._
6. Violent or turbulent events; unrest, disturbance.
   - Simple: Fighting, violence, or disorder.
   - _Call my uniform a livery again and there'll be trouble._
   - _Police expect trouble whenever the two clubs meet._
7. Effort or pains taken over something, often more than is strictly necessary.
   - Simple: Extra effort that someone takes.
   - _She never took the trouble to close the gates._
   - _Thanks for going to the trouble of driving me all the way to the airport._
8. A malfunction.
   - Simple: A problem with a machine.
   - _Engine trouble forced the plane back to the airport._
   - _The mechanic traced the trouble to a cracked hose._
9. An objectionable feature of something or someone; a problem, drawback, weakness, or failing.
   - Simple: The thing that is wrong with someone or something.
   - _The trouble with cheap shoes is that they wear out within a few months._
   - _His trouble was a temper that arrived before his judgment did._
10. A medical problem or disorder, usually one affecting a specific part or organ of the body.
   - Simple: A health problem, usually with one part of the body.
   - _My father has had back trouble ever since he fell off a ladder._
   - _Stomach trouble kept half the team in bed on the day of the match._
11. Worry or distress as a feeling that someone has inside, as opposed to the situation or problem causing it.
   - Simple: A worried or upset feeling.
   - _He tried to sound cheerful on the phone, but I could hear the trouble in his voice._
   - _A vague trouble followed her from the meeting into the evening._
14. A person liable to place others or themselves in a difficult situation.
   - Simple: A person who is likely to cause problems for others or for themselves.
   - _Her mother had said he was trouble, and her mother was right._
   - _The new signing is talented but trouble in the dressing room._
17. A wife. *(dialectal, Cockney)*
   - Simple: In London rhyming slang, a wife.
   - _The trouble's been on at me about our anniversary dinner._
   - _He winked and said he had to get home to the trouble before she started to worry._

## Verb

4. To make someone worried, upset or uneasy; also, to worry about something.
   - Simple: To make someone worried or upset, or to feel worried.
   - _The doctor's long silence troubled her more than any bad news could._
   - _Questions about the money trouble the auditors more than the missing files._
12. To cause someone minor inconvenience, especially by asking a favor of them.
   - Simple: To bother someone or cause them a little extra work.
   - _Could I trouble you for a glass of water?_
   - _Sorry to trouble you so late, but the water has been cut off._
13. To take pains to do something; to bother.
   - Simple: To make the effort to do something.
   - _Few visitors trouble to climb all the way to the top, but the view is worth the effort._
   - _You don't need to trouble yourself with dinner; we'll order pizza._
15. Of an ailment or the like: to afflict physically.
   - Simple: To cause someone pain or discomfort, as an illness or injury does.
   - _A cough had troubled her all winter._
   - _Old fractures trouble him whenever the weather turns damp._

## Noun

16. An unplanned or unwanted pregnancy, dated slang. *(dated)*
   - Simple: An old slang term for a pregnancy that was not planned or is not wanted.
   - _In the old novel, the maid gets into trouble and the young lord refuses to marry her._
   - _Girls in trouble were once hidden with relatives until the baby came._

## Verb

18. To disturb, stir up, or agitate a medium, especially water, now rare. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: In old use, to stir up water or another liquid.
   - _An angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water._
   - _She lowered the oars gently so as not to trouble the glassy surface of the lake._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In mining, a fault or interruption in a stratum.

## Origin

The verb comes from Middle English troublen, borrowed from Old French troubler, a rearranged form of tourbler, from Vulgar Latin *turbulō, from Latin turbula ("a little crowd"), a diminutive of turba ("stir; crowd"). The noun comes from Middle English trouble, from Old French troble, formed from the verb.

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