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.
- 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, line 67, page 12:
- 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.
- c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:
- Now, Master Shallow, you'll complain of me to the king?
- 1997, Carlin, George, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, LCCN 96-52373, OCLC 36084460, OL 26335012M, page 85:
- If you get cheated by the Better Business Bureau, who do you complain to?
- To creak or squeak, as a timber or wheel.
- the complaining bed-springs
Synonyms
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- grumble
- grouse
- grump
- bitch
- beef
- gripe
- whine
- kvetch
- moan
- whinge
- See also Thesaurus:complain
Derived terms
- can't complain
- complain king
- complain queen
- you'd complain if you were hung with a new rope
Translations
to express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment
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to make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge
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Translations to be checked
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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
- amplicon