worry

 
Pronunciation: /ˈwʌri/

verb (worries, worrying, worried)

  • 1feel or cause to feel anxious or troubled about actual or potential problems: [no object]: he worried about his soldier sons in the war [with clause]: I began to worry whether I had done the right thing [with object]: there was no need to worry her
  • [with object] (worry something out) discover or solve something by persistent thought: children should be allowed to pause in their reading to worry out a meaning
  • 2 [with object] annoy or disturb: the noise never really stops, but it doesn’t worry me
  • 3 [with object] (of a dog or other carnivorous animal) tear at or pull about with the teeth: I found my dog contentedly worrying a bone
  • (of a dog) chase and attack (livestock, especially sheep): a farmer shot a dog that had been worrying sheep
  • 4 [no object] (worry at) pull at or fiddle with repeatedly: he began to worry at the knot in the cord

noun (plural worries)

[mass noun]
  • the state of being anxious and troubled over actual or potential problems: Mam says she’s demented with worry
  • [count noun] a source of anxiety: he’s got financial worries

Phrases

not to worry

informal used to reassure someone that a situation is not serious: not to worry—no harm done

Derivatives

worrier

noun

Origin:

Old English wyrgan 'strangle', of West Germanic origin. In Middle English the original sense of the verb gave rise to the meaning 'seize by the throat and tear', later figuratively 'harass', whence 'cause anxiety to' (early 19th century, the date also of the noun)

Spelling rule

If a word ends in a consonant plus -y (as in defy), change the -y to an -i before adding any ending (unless the ending already begins with an -i): (worries, worrying, worried).