pain
[noun]
Synonyms:
- hurt, ache, discomfort, irritation, pang, soreness, tenderness, throb, twinge
- suffering, agony, anguish, distress, heartache, misery, torment, torture
[verb]
Synonyms:
- hurt, smart, sting, throb
- distress, agonize, cut to the quick, grieve, hurt, sadden, torment, torture

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Related Idioms: hit one where one lives
Related Words: discomfort, distress, hurt, suffering, agony, torment, torture, assiduousness, diligence, industry, sedulousness, agonize, convulse, crucify, excruciate, harrow, lacerate, afflict, upset, wound, anguish

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English Thesaurus: hurt, ache, throb, sting, smart, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. pain¹ S2 W2 /peɪn/ noun
[Word Family: adjective: pained, painful ≠ painless; verb: pain; noun: pain; adverb: painfully ≠ painlessly]
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: peine, from Latin poena, from Greek poine 'payment, punishment']

1. [uncountable and countable] the feeling you have when part of your body hurts:
The pain is getting worse.
pain in
She felt a sharp pain in her leg.
Greg was in a lot of pain. ⇒ growing pains(2)

2. [uncountable and countable] the feeling of unhappiness you have when you are sad, upset etc:
the pain and grief of bereavement
cause (somebody) pain/inflict pain on somebody
She hated to say the words, for fear of causing pain.

3. be a pain (in the neck) (also be a pain in the ass/arse/backside/butt not polite) spoken to be very annoying:
There were times when Joe could be a real pain in the neck.
It’s a pain, having to go upstairs to make the coffee every time.

4. take/go to (great) pains to do something (also take pains with/over something) to make a special effort to do something:
He’s taken great pains to improve his image.

5. be at pains to do something to be especially careful to make sure people understand what you are saying or what you plan to do:
Roy was at pains to point out that English was the only exam he’d ever failed.

6. for your pains as a reward for something you worked to achieve – used especially when this is disappointing:
I fetched the file, and all I got for my pains was a dirty look from Simon.

7. no pain, no gain used to say that you can only achieve something, for example become fitter, by suffering or working hard

8. on/under pain of death at the risk of being killed as punishment, if you do not obey:
Communist activity was prohibited on pain of death.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. pain² verb [transitive]
[Word Family: adjective: pained, painful ≠ painless; verb: pain; noun: pain; adverb: painfully ≠ painlessly]
it pains somebody to do something formal used to say that it is very difficult and upsetting for someone to have to do something

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

pain
noun
I. physical pain
ADJ. acute, agonizing, awful, excruciating, extreme, great, intense, severe, sharp, terrible, unbearable | burning, searing, shooting, stabbing, throbbing She had a burning pain in one eye. | dull, little, slight | chronic, constant, nagging, persistent | sudden | intermittent | physical | abdominal, back, chest, leg, muscle, shoulder, stomach She's been off work with back pain. He went to the doctor with chest pains.
growing, labour, period
QUANT. spasm, stab
VERB + PAIN be in, be racked with, experience, feel, get, go through, have, suffer (from) He was obviously in a great deal of pain. Can you feel any pain? Marathon runners are used to going through pain. He was taken to hospital suffering from severe abdominal pain.
cause, give sb, inflict His back gives him great pain. It's wrong to inflict pain on any animal.
increase, make worse | alleviate, control, deaden, do something for, dull, ease, help, kill, relieve, stop Your doctor should be able to do something for the pain.
bear, endure, put up with, stand, take | cry out in, cry with, groan with, scream with | be contorted with, contort in His face was contorted with pain as he crossed the finish line.
PAIN + VERB begin, come The pains began shortly after she started work as a gardener.
shoot through/up A sharp pain shot up his leg.
grow stronger, increase, intensify | disappear, go, stop, wear off Has the pain gone yet? A few hours after he'd had his tooth out, the pain began to wear off.
come back, return
PAIN + NOUN control, relief | threshold
PREP. ~ in a pain in her side
PHRASES aches and pains Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and pains.
a cry of pain, a threshold for/of pain I have a very low threshold for pain.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

pain
II. unhappiness
ADJ. great, intense, terrible | emotional
VERB + PAIN cause (sb), give sb, inflict Through her drug addiction she had inflicted a lot of pain on the family.
feel, go through | get over It took him several years to get over the pain of losing his job.
ease | spare sb We hoped to spare her the pain of having to meet her attacker.
express | conceal He tried to conceal his pain from her.
bear, endure | be worth The government has to persuade the people that the economic reforms are worth the pain.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

pain

bad
Later that evening, the pain was really bad.
terrible/awful
I woke up with a terrible pain in my side.
severe/intense
Ever since the accident, Mike’s suffered from severe back pain.
excruciating (=very severe)
The pain in my eye was excruciating.
a sharp pain (=short but severe)
She felt a sharp pain in the back of her throat.
a slight pain (=not severe)
I’ve got a slight pain in my side.
a dull pain (=a slight but continuous pain)
There was a dull pain in his lower jaw.
a nagging pain (=felt all the time)
Rob felt fine, apart from a nagging pain in his left wrist.
chronic pain (=pain that you suffer from for long periods of time)
Many of the elderly patients suffer chronic pain.
a shooting pain (=a severe pain that goes from one part of your body to another)
The shooting pains in her arms and legs slowly began to die away.
a searing pain (=very severe, as if you have been burnt)
His elbow struck the side of the table, sending a searing pain through his arm.
a stabbing pain (=sharp and sudden)
Marcus heard a shot and felt a stabbing pain at the back of his ankle.
a throbbing pain (=a pain that gets stronger and then weaker, in a steady continuous beat)
I’ve still got this throbbing pain in my leg.
back/chest/stomach etc pain
Many people suffer from back pain.
abdominal pain
Several of the hotel’s guests had persistent abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
physical pain
He couldn’t stand physical pain.
labour pains British English, labor pains American English (=felt by a woman at the time she is having a baby)
Becky was at work when labour pains began.
have a pain
I’ve got a terrible pain in my stomach.
feel pain
The dentist told me that I wouldn’t feel any pain.
be in pain
Despite being in great pain, he managed to call for help.
suffer (from) pain
She suffers from chronic pain in her legs.
inflict pain
The guards enjoyed inflicting pain on them.
relieve/ease pain (also alleviate pain formal) (=make it less severe)
Exercise can help to relieve lower back pain.
experience pain formal
Animals caught in the trap experience great pain before they die.
complain of pain (=say that you have a pain in a part of your body)
After we finished our run, Tom complained of pains in his chest.
the pain gets worse
If the pain gets any worse, see your doctor.
the pain goes away (also the pain subsides formal) (=becomes less severe)
He lay still until the pain had subsided to a dull ache.
the pain comes and goes (=keeps starting and stopping)
The pain comes and goes but it’s never too severe.
pain relief (=a drug or treatment that makes pain less severe)
These drugs offer effective pain relief for the very sick.
sb’s pain threshold (=their ability to bear pain)
Everyone has a different pain threshold.
aches and pains
Everyone has a few aches and pains when they get older.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

hurt if part of your body hurts, it feels painful:
My chest hurts when I cough.
ache to hurt with a continuous pain:
I’d been walking all day and my legs were really aching.
throb to feel a bad pain that comes and goes again in a regular and continuous way:
Lou had a terrible headache and his whole head seemed to be throbbing.
sting to feel a sharp pain, or to make someone feel this, especially in your eyes, throat, or skin:
My throat stings every time I swallow.
This injection may sting a little.
smart to hurt with a sudden sharp pain – used especially about your eyes, or your skin where something has hit you:
Her eyes were smarting from the thick smoke.
Jackson’s face was still smarting from the punch.
burn to feel very hot and painful or uncomfortable:
Be careful because this chemical will make your skin burn.
His eyes were burning because of the gas.
pinch if something you are wearing pinches you, it is too tight and presses painfully on your skin:
The shirt was a bit too small and it was pinching my neck.
something is killing me spoken informal used when something feels very painful:
My legs are killing me.
These shoes are killing me.
a bad back/leg/arm etc if you have a bad back/leg/arm etc, it feels painful:
He’s off work with a bad back.
pain noun [uncountable and countable] the feeling when part of your body hurts:
A broken leg can cause a lot of pain.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest.
twinge noun [countable] a sudden slight pain that comes and then disappears quickly:
When I bent down I felt a twinge in my back.
discomfort noun [uncountable] formal an uncomfortable feeling in your body, or a slight pain:
The procedure takes five minutes and only causes slight discomfort.
agony noun [uncountable] a feeling of great pain, or a situation in which you feel a lot of pain:
the agony of childbirth
I was in agony by the time I got to the hospital.
It was agony (=very painful)getting up out of bed.
suffering noun [uncountable] continuous physical or mental pain, which makes someone very unhappy:
I just wanted someone to put an end to my suffering.
the suffering of the earthquake victims

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

pain noun [uncountable and countable] the feeling when part of your body hurts:
A broken leg can cause a lot of pain.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest.
ache noun [uncountable and countable] a continuous pain, especially one that is not very bad. Most commonly used in compounds such as headache, toothache, and backache:
I felt an ache in my back after decorating all day.
Driving gives me a headache.
I’ve got stomach ache.
Do you have earache?
twinge noun [countable] a sudden slight pain that comes and then disappears quickly:
When I bent down I felt a twinge in my back.
discomfort noun [uncountable] formal an uncomfortable feeling in your body, or a slight pain:
The procedure takes five minutes and only causes slight discomfort.
agony noun [uncountable] a feeling of great pain, or a situation in which you feel a lot of pain:
the agony of childbirth
I was in agony by the time I got to the hospital.
It was agony (=very painful)getting up out of bed.
suffering noun [uncountable] continuous physical or mental pain, which makes someone very unhappy:
I just wanted someone to put an end to my suffering.
the suffering of the earthquake victims

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

pain
peɪn
See: at pains , feel no pain , give a pain , growing pains , on pain of , take pains

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲