pain Definition
pain (pān)
noun
- penalty or punishment: obs. except in on (or upon or under) pain of, at the risk of bringing upon oneself (punishment, death, etc.)
- a sensation of hurting, or strong discomfort, in some part of the body, caused by an injury, disease, or functional disorder, and transmitted through the nervous system
- the distress or suffering, mental or physical, caused by great anxiety, anguish, grief, disappointment, etc.
- the labor of childbirth
- great care or effort to take pains with one's work
- Slang an annoyance: often used in phrases specifying a part of the body (e.g., pain in the neck)
Etymology: ME peine < OFr < L poena, penalty, punishment: see penal
transitive verb
to cause to suffer; hurt; distress
intransitive verb
to have or cause pain
pain Idioms
feel no pain
Slang to be drunk
pain Synonyms
pain
n.
Suffering, physical or mental
hurt, anguish, distress, discomfort, disorder, agony, misery, crucifixion, martyrdom, wretchedness, shock, torture, torment, passion; see also injury 1.Antonyms
health*, well-being*, ease. * Suffering, usually physical
ache, twinge, catch, throb, throe, spasm, cramp, gripe, stitch, torture, malady, sickness, rack, laceration, paroxysm, soreness, fever, burning, prick, torment, distress, agony, affliction, discomfort, hurt, pang, wound, strain, sting, burn, crick; see also illness 1, injury 1.Specific kinds of pains (including aches) include: housemaid's knee, tennis elbow, shin splint, arthritis, arthritic pain, rheumatism, inflammatory rheumatism, gout, peritonitis, bursitis, earache, headache, stomachache, bellyache, toothache, backache.
Suffering, usually mental
despondency, worry, anxiety; see depression 2, grief 1, sadness.Effort; used in plural
effort, endeavor, care; see effort. See syn. study at effort.
feeling no pain*
upon <strong>or </strong>under pain of
pain Synonyms
pain Usage Examples
Converse of object
- relieve: It can really help to relieve lower back pain.
- ease: Putting in insoles, & plasters, eases pain on ankles.
- inflict: Neither of these actions were sufficiently forceful to inflict pain.
- alleviate: The initial goal of treatment is to alleviate pain, followed by measures to reduce future fracture risk.
Adjective modifier
- abdominal: Female pelvic organs Symptoms of painful periods Cramping lower abdominal pains are the most common symptom.
- chronic: No hands on physical therapy is given to people with chronic muscular skeletal pain, this is policy.
- severe: If you get severe pain and vomiting get urgent advice from your GP.
- acute: The heart muscle, suddenly deprived of oxygen, is the site of the typical acute central chest pain.
- pelvic: Information: I have been experiencing pelvic pain on and off for a year or so.
- postoperative: Single dose oral ibuprofen and diclofenac for postoperative pain.
Modifies a noun
- relief: Pain relief CD to download or buy right now!
- killer: His lameness improved over the next week, despite receiving no pain killers.
Noun used with modifier
- chest: Initial analysis will focus on patients with chest pain.
- stomach: And the most disturbing: " Stomach pain and stomach ulcer with or without bleeding.
- knee: If you experience any knee pain, stop the exercise.
- neck: In some cases, neck pain can be a symptom of head injury or disk trouble in the neck.
Preposition: in
- ass: Building MSI installers turns out to be almost completely a pain in the ass.
- ass: MULDER: I'm a pain in the ass to work with.
- abdomen: If a gallstone were responsible there would probably have been a preceding history of pain in the abdomen.
Preposition: of
childbirth: Do you think part of a mother's happiness may be because she has come through the pain of childbirth?
Browse dictionary entries near pain
- ‹ paillette
- ‹ paillasse
- ‹ paillard
- ‹ pail
- ‹ Paige, Satchel (Leroy Robert)
- ‹ Paige, Satchel
- ‹ paid off
- ‹ paid-in capital
- ‹ paid for
- ‹ paid
- pain and suffering ›
- Paine ›
- Paine,Thomas ›
- pained ›
- painful ›
- painfully ›
- painkiller ›
- painless ›
- painstaking ›
- paint ›

