hassle

The definition of a hassle is an argument or a fight.

(noun)

An example of hassle is two people getting into a heated debate about politics in a bar.

Hassle is defined as to bother, annoy or harass someone.

(verb)

An example of hassle is a group of men yelling vulgar words at a woman across the street from them.

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See hassle in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. a heated argument; squabble
  2. a troublesome situation

Origin: < ?

intransitive verb hassled, hassling

Informal to have a hassle

transitive verb

Slang to annoy, harass, etc.

See hassle in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. An argument or a fight.
  2. Trouble; bother.
verb has·sled, has·sling, has·sles
verb, intransitive
To argue or fight: customers hassling with merchants over high prices.
verb, transitive
To bother or harass: street gangs hassling passersby.

Origin:

Origin: Origin unknown

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Word History: It is difficult to believe that there were no hassles before 1945, the year in which the noun hassle is first recorded in English. The origins of this word might be considered a hassle for the etymologist. An English dialect word, hassle, meaning “to hack at, cut with a blunt knife and with a sawing motion,” is recorded at the end of the 19th century. A Southern dialect word, hassle, “to pant, breathe heavily,” is also a possible source. A more popular notion has been that hassle is a blend, but here again we have a hassle. Three separate possibilities have been proposed, a combination of harass and hustle, haggle and tussle, and haggle and wrestle. Given all these possibilities, it is clear why words such as hassle end up with the etymology “origin unknown.”

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