pain

Pronunciation: /peɪn/

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Definition of pain

noun

[mass noun]

1highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury:she’s in great pain [count noun]:chest pains
(also pain in the neck or vulgar slang arse) informal an annoying or tedious person or thing:she’s a pain

2mental suffering or distress:the pain of loss

3 (pains) great care or trouble:she took pains to see that everyone ate well

verb

[with object]

cause mental or physical pain to:it pains me to say this her legs had been paining her
[no object] chiefly North American (of a part of the body) hurt:sometimes my right hand would pain

Phrases

for one's pains: informal as an unfairly bad return for one’s efforts:he was sued for his pains
no pain, no gain: suffering is necessary in order to achieve something: get them knees up—no pain, no gain!
[originally used as a slogan in fitness classes]
on (or under) pain of: the penalty for disobedience or shortcoming being:they proscribed all such practices on pain of death

Origin:

Middle English (in the sense 'suffering inflicted as punishment for an offence'): from Old French peine, from Latin poena 'penalty', later 'pain'

Pain is often confused with pane. Pain means 'an unpleasant feeling caused by illness or injury' (I had agonizing stomach pains), whereas pane means 'a sheet of glass' (a window pane).

pain in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of pain in the US English dictionary

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Other

pain

noun

verb

Phrases

for one's pains

no pain, no gain

on (or under) pain of

Origin:

pain in other Oxford dictionaries

Nearby words

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