complain
English
Etymology
From Middle English complaynen, from Old French complaindre, from Medieval Latin complangere (“to bewail, complain”), from Latin com- (“together”) + plangere (“to strike, beat, as the breast in extreme grief, bewail”); see plain, plaint.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kəmˈpleɪn/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪn
Verb
complain (third-person singular simple present complains, present participle complaining, simple past and past participle complained)
- (intransitive) To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.
- Joe was always complaining about the noise made by his neighbours.
- (Can we date this quote?) John Milton
- O loss of sight, of thee I most complain!
- (intransitive) To make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge.
- They've complained about me to the police again.
- (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare
- Now, Master Shallow, you'll complain of me to the king?
- To creak or squeak, as a timber or wheel.
- the complaining bed-springs
Synonyms
- The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the templates
{{syn|en|...}}or{{ant|en|...}}to add them to the appropriate sense(s).
Translations
to express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment
|
|
to make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge
|
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
Further reading
- complain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- complain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
This article is issued from
Wiktionary.
The text is licensed under Creative
Commons - Attribution - Sharealike.
Additional terms may apply for the media files.