trouble
[noun]
Synonyms:
- distress, anxiety, disquiet, grief, misfortune, pain, sorrow, torment, woe, worry
- disease, ailment, complaint, defect, disorder, failure, illness, malfunction
- disorder, agitation, bother (informal), commotion, discord, disturbance, strife, tumult, unrest
- effort, care, exertion, inconvenience, labour, pains, thought, work
[verb]
Synonyms:
- worry, bother, disconcert, distress, disturb, pain, perturb, plague, sadden, upset
- take pains, exert oneself, make an effort, take the time
- inconvenience, bother, burden, disturb, impose upon, incommode, put out

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Related Words: agitate, concern, discompose, disquiet, disturb, perturb, rowel, worrit, annoy, bother, fret, irk, vex, destroy, haunt, upset, worry, disconcert, harry, irritate, afflict, torment, pester, plague, impose (on or upon), intrude, ado, bustle, flurry, fuss, pother, inconvenience, difficulty, hardship, rigor, strain, stress, bind, predicament

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English Thesaurus: illness, disease, infection, condition, problem, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. troub‧le¹ S1 W2 /ˈtrʌbəl/ noun
[Word Family: adjective: troubled, troublesome, troubling; verb: trouble; noun: trouble]

1. PROBLEMS [uncountable] (also troubles [plural]) problems or difficulties
trouble with
We’re having a lot of trouble with the new computer system.
Recent stock market losses point to trouble ahead.

2. BAD POINT [singular] used when saying what is bad about a person or situation or what causes problems:
The trouble with you is that you don’t listen.
The trouble is there are too many people and not enough places.
But no one ever remembers – that’s the trouble.
You never think, that’s your trouble.

3. BAD SITUATION in/into/out of trouble
a) if someone or something is in trouble, they are in a situation with a lot of problems:
He admitted that their marriage was in trouble.
get/run into trouble
The company ran into trouble when it tried to expand too quickly.
in serious/deep trouble
The economy was in serious trouble.
the dangers of trying to borrow your way out of trouble
b) if someone is in trouble, they have done something which someone will punish them for or be angry about
in deep/big trouble
We’ll be in big trouble if Mr Elliott finds out.
in trouble with somebody
I think I’m in trouble with Dad.
I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to get into trouble.
keep/stay out of trouble
I hope Tim stays out of trouble this year.

4. FIGHTING [uncountable] fighting, violence, or violent behaviour:
If the kids start to cause trouble, ask them to move on.
A handful of people came looking for trouble.
If you start any trouble, you’ll regret it.
There was crowd trouble before the match.

5. WORRIES [uncountable] (also troubles [plural]) problems in your life which you are worried about:
He poured out all his troubles to me (=told me all about his problems).

6. EFFORT [uncountable] an amount of effort and time that is needed to do something
take the trouble to do something (=make a special effort to do something)
The teacher took the trouble to learn all our names on the first day.
They’ve obviously gone to a lot of trouble to arrange everything.
save somebody the trouble (of doing something)
If you’d asked me first, I could have saved you the trouble.
I find that making my own clothes is more trouble than it’s worth (=takes too much time and effort).

7. no trouble used to say politely that you are happy to do something for someone:
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ ‘It’s no trouble.’
The kids were no trouble (=used to say you were happy to look after them because they were well-behaved).

8. HEALTH [uncountable] a problem that you have with your health:
He has trouble with his breathing.
heart/stomach/skin etc trouble
He suffers from back trouble.

9. MACHINE/SYSTEM [uncountable] when something is wrong with a machine, vehicle, or system:
engine trouble
trouble with
He had to retire from the race because of trouble with the gearbox.


GRAMMAR
Trouble is usually an uncountable noun. Never say 'a trouble':
Are you having trouble (NOT a trouble) with your car?

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. trouble² verb [transitive]
[Word Family: adjective: troubled, troublesome, troubling; verb: trouble; noun: trouble]
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: troubler, from Vulgar Latin turbulare, from Latin turbidus; ⇒ turbid]

1. WORRY if a problem troubles you, it makes you feel worried or upset:
There is one thing that’s been troubling me.
They have been deeply troubled by the allegations.
His conscience troubled him.

2. INCONVENIENCE formal to say something or ask someone to do something which may use or waste their time or upset them Synonym : bother:
I promise not to trouble you again.
trouble somebody with something
I don’t want to trouble the doctor with it.
I won’t trouble you with the details.

3. may I trouble you?/sorry to trouble you spoken formal used when politely asking someone to do something for you or give you something:
Sorry to trouble you, but could you tell me the way to the station, please?
May I trouble you for the salt?

4. don’t trouble yourself spoken used to politely tell someone not to help you:
Please don’t trouble yourself. I can manage.

5. not trouble to do something to not do something because it needs too much effort:
They never troubled to ask me what I would like.
Luke didn’t trouble to hide his disgust.

REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say not bother to do something rather than not trouble to do something:
They didn’t bother to ask me what I thought.

6. HEALTH PROBLEM if a medical problem troubles you, it causes you pain or problems:
He is still being troubled by an ankle injury.

7. CAUSE PROBLEMS to cause someone problems or difficulties:
They look good enough to trouble most teams in the competition.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

trouble
noun
I. problems
ADJ. bad, big, deep, desperate, real, serious The company is in desperate trouble financially.
endless | domestic, family, marital | financial, money | political | back, heart, tummy, etc. | boyfriend, girl, man, etc. He was obviously upset, and muttered something about girlfriend trouble.
engine
VERB + TROUBLE mean, spell She knew that a hygiene inspection could spell trouble for her restaurant.
have, suffer from He has had back trouble since changing jobs.
get (yourself) into, run into The firm soon ran into financial trouble.
keep out of, stay out of | pour out She poured out all her troubles to her mother.
cause, lead to The printer's causing trouble again.
avoid | forget, put behind you He put his past troubles behind him and built up a successful new career.
TROUBLE + VERB come Trouble often comes when you're least expecting it.
PREP. in ~ When she saw the teacher coming towards her she knew she was in big trouble.
~ for He got into trouble for not doing his homework.
~ with I've had endless trouble with my car. He is in trouble with the law again.
PHRASES a cause/source of trouble, a history of … trouble She has a history of back trouble.
in times of trouble In times of trouble she always turns to her mum.
trouble ahead I can see trouble ahead.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

trouble
II. arguing/violence
ADJ. crowd
VERB + TROUBLE cause, make He had a reputation for making trouble in the classroom.
be asking for, be looking for, court, stir up He was asking for trouble when he insulted their country. Fans wandered the town after the match looking for trouble.
TROUBLE + VERB be brewing There was trouble brewing among the workforce.
blow up, flare (up) Trouble blew up when the gang was refused entry to a nightclub.
TROUBLE + NOUN spot Extra journalists have been sent to the main trouble spots.
PREP. ~ between trouble between the teachers

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

trouble
III. extra work
ADJ. considerable, enormous, great They went to enormous trouble to make her stay a pleasant one.
VERB + TROUBLE bring (sb), cause (sb), give sb, make, put sb to I don't want to make trouble for her. I don't want to put you to any trouble.
go to, take We took the trouble to plan our route in advance.
be worth Do you think it's worth the trouble of booking seats in advance?
save sb Why don't we bring a pizza to save you the trouble of cooking?
thank sb for Thank you very much for all your trouble.
PHRASES be more trouble than it's worth Growing your own vegetables is more trouble than it's worth.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

trouble
verb
ADV. deeply, greatly This latest news troubled him deeply.
hardly, scarcely
PHRASES be troubled with sth He has been troubled with a knee injury.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

trouble

have trouble
He is having trouble getting his message across to the voters.
have no trouble
We had no trouble finding her house.
cause trouble
I hope the delay hasn’t caused you any trouble.
there is trouble
There was some trouble at her office, but she didn’t say what it was.
mean/spell trouble (=mean there will be trouble)
They are now much more competitive, which can only spell trouble for their rivals.
be asking for trouble (=be silly or dangerous)
It 's asking for trouble to wear high-heeled shoes on a long walk.
avoid trouble
We avoid trouble by planning carefully.
big/great trouble
High interest rates spell big trouble for homeowners.
terrible trouble
I’ve been having terrible trouble sleeping.
endless trouble (=a lot of trouble)
They had endless trouble with the water supply.
serious trouble
I was having serious trouble knowing where to begin.
teething troubles British English (=small problems that you have when you first start doing a new job or using a new system )
There were a lot of teething troubles in the first year.
what the trouble is
A couple of nurses rushed into the room to see what the trouble was.
without any/much trouble (=easily)
The work was carried out without any trouble.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

trouble
noun
1.
BAD: I'm sorry to cause you so many troubles.
GOOD: I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble.
BAD: I'm having some troubles with my supervisor.
GOOD: I'm having some trouble with my supervisor.

Usage Note:
Trouble (= difficulties or problems) is an uncountable noun: 'I hope you didn't have any trouble getting here.' 'His back has been giving him a lot of trouble recently.'
Note the alternative: 'I'm sorry to cause you so many problems.'

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2.
BAD: Sometimes my little brother is a real trouble.
GOOD: Sometimes my little brother is a real nuisance.

Usage Note:
A person or thing that annoys you or gives you problems is a nuisance : 'The post office closes early today, which is a bit of a nuisance.' 'Alan! Stop being a nuisance and find something to do!'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

illness something wrong with your health which makes you feel ill:
Her husband was in hospital for six months with a serious illness.
disease a particular illness, especially one that spreads to other people easily or that affects one part of your body:
childhood diseases such as measles and chickenpox
heart disease
infection an illness that is caused by bacteria or a virus:
His cough got worse and worse and became a chest infection.
condition a health problem that affects you permanently or for a long time:
a medical condition such as asthma
a heart condition
problem [usually after a noun] something that is wrong with a particular part of your body or your health in general:
a serious back problem
health problems
trouble [singular, only after a noun] illness or pain that affects a particular part of your body:
I’ve had a bit of stomach trouble.
disorder formal an illness that prevents a particular organ of your body from working properly, or affects the way you behave:
a liver disorder
a blood disorder
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder.
bug informal an illness that spreads to other people very easily but that is not very serious:
There’s a bug going round at school and a lot of the children are absent.
a flu bug
complaint medical an illness that affects a particular part of your body, especially one that is not very serious – used by doctors:
a minor skin complaint
Deakin suffers from a back complaint called arachnoiditis.
ailment /ˈeɪlmənt/ formal an illness that affects a particular part of your body, especially one that is not serious:
People often go to their doctor about relatively minor ailments.
The ointment is used to treat ailments such as small wounds and insect bites.
sickness the state of being ill, especially when it stops you working:
absence from work due to sickness
ill health formal the state of being ill, usually for a long period of time:
Research shows that there is a link between air pollution and ill health.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

setback a problem that stops you from making progress:
The space program suffered a major setback when the space shuttle, Discovery, exploded.
snag informal a problem, especially one that you had not expected:
There’s a snag – I don’t have his number.
hitch a small problem that delays or prevents something:
There have been a few last-minute hitches.
trouble when something does not work in the way it should:
The plane developed engine trouble.
hassle spoken a situation that is annoying because it causes problems:
Just trying to store all this stuff is a hassle.
tear to damage paper or cloth by pulling it too hard, or letting it touch something sharp:
She unwrapped the present carefully, trying not to tear the paper.
I tore a hole in my jacket, climbing over the fence.
rip to tear something quickly or violently:
Beth excitedly ripped open the package.
Stop pulling my dress! You’ll rip it!
split to tear your trousers or shirt when you put them on, because they are too tight for you:
He bent down and split his trousers.
Oh no, now I’ve split my shirt.
ladder British English if a woman ladders her tights or STOCKINGS, she tears them so that a long thin line appears in them:
Damn! I’ve laddered my tights!
shred to deliberately destroy letters, documents etc by cutting them into thin pieces, often by using a special machine:
In order to prevent fraud, it’s best to shred your bank statements.
I went through all my papers shredding things I didn’t need.
frayed torn a little along the edges – used about clothes, carpets etc that have been used a lot:
He was wearing an old pair of frayed jeans.
The rug was a little frayed around the edges.
The jacket was a little frayed at the cuffs.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

trouble
ˈtrʌbl
See: borrow trouble , go to the trouble or take the trouble

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲