Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.
- v. To make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To utter expressions of grief, pain, uneasiness, censure, resentment, or dissatisfaction; lament or murmur about anything; find fault.
- Figuratively, to make a sound resembling that of lamentation or suffering; emit a mournful sound or noise: as, the complaining wind; the sea complains dismally.
- To utter an expression of discomfort or sorrow from some cause; speak of the suffering of anything: with of: as, to complain of headache, of poverty, or of wrong.
- To make a formal accusation against a person, or on account of anything; make a charge: with of.
- Synonyms To bewail, repine, grieve, mourn, grumble, croak.
- To lament; bewail; deplore.
- n. Complaint; outcry.
Wiktionary
- v. intransitive To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.
- v. intransitive To make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To give utterance to expression of grief, pain, censure, regret. etc.; to lament; to murmur; to find fault; -- commonly used with
of . Also, to creak or squeak, as a timber or wheel. - v. To make a formal accusation; to make a charge.
- v. obsolete To lament; to bewail.
WordNet 3.0
- v. express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
- v. make a formal accusation; bring a formal charge
Etymologies
- 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. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English compleinen, from Old French complaindre, complaign-, from Vulgar Latin *complangere : Latin com-, intensive pref.; see com- + Latin plangere, to lament; see plāk-2 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“III. ii.31 (278,2) [complain of good breeding] I am in doubt whether the custom of the language in Shakespeare's time did not authorise this mode of speech, and make _complain of good breeding_ the same with _complain_ of the want of _good_ breeding.”
“The squeeky wheel gets the grease so these very angry groups with "family" in their title complain and flood the fcc with complains and threaten to boycott advertisers if they continue to advertise on "family-unfriendly" shows. 90% of people in the US may not care, but that 10% makes enough noise and the networks back down and put on yet another cop or lawyer show.”
“My only complain is how fantastically slow Smith is.”
What Are You Reading? | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment
“Very funny, and I will never again complain about any of my bosses, who have (for the most part) all been pretty good, and some have been excellent.”
“Chas replied to battle angel alita battle angel alita, you can go a step even further than boycotting Virgin - complain to ASA and Virgin themselves and get this godawful ad pulled from our TV screens.”
Virgin: Objectifying women's bodies for 25 years! - Feministing
“And I will never again complain about my failed induction and 2 days of 3-minute contractions, I promise!”
“I am willing to bet that the same Republicans who complained about not having enough time to read the bill last time, will again complain about not having enough time to read the health care bill.”
“My complain is the liberaterian claim that private schools can do this with fewer resources then public schools.”
Preferring Ignorance, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“But some big U.S. companies doing business in China are increasingly irritated by the obstacles to selling there — particularly financial and other services — and at what they complain is a Chinese propensity to steal intellectual property.”
The Wall Street Journal: For U.S. and China, Co-Dependency Breeds Bilateral Risk
“Johnson was called for a technical foul with 6: 23 left, and Woodson soon drew a technical as he continued to complain from the bench. ...”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘complain’.
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Talk Talk
Words for Talking
( open list, randomness )squawk, gab, chatter, chitchat, blab, prattle, blather, discuss, hector, plead, cajole, harangue and 200 more...
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Kangaroo Words
Words containing letters in sequence, together or apart, that form a definition or instance of the subsuming word. E.g., conTAmINaTe = the kangaroo word. TAINT = the joey. Theme from a NYT X-word ...
encourage, chariot, precipitation, neurotic, feaster, unsightly, charisma, inheritor, masculine, honorable, contaminate, regulate and 103 more...
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I am : talking
"These are talking words," I announce. "You mean verbs that can be used for dialogue?" you ask. "That's right!" I agree.
say, speak, ask, declare, query, shout, yell, scream, shriek, squeal, squeak, screech and 81 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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Legislationie: The Habeas Corpus Act ...
An act for the better securing the liberty of the subject, and for prevention of imprisonments beyond the seas.
WHEREAS great delays have been used by sheriffs, gaolers and other offi...of the peace, the hand and seal of, signed and sealed, jurisdiction, hath, order, recognizances, cognizable, properly, city, county, gaol-delivery and 120 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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fbharjo's Words
jumelle, kef, kenspeckle, lautitious, essentic, pilpulistic, impavid, cicurant, clou, chrysostomic, miasma, teleology and 1625 more...
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Words
Words I like
flapdoodle, fungible, edify, malarkey, hearsay, persnickety, tchotchke, penultimate, flummery, stultify, dun, complain and 53 more...
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TT3 Lesson 31
active, adolescent, adoption, brandy, canine, catheter, cavity, collapse, complain, coordinator, crew, cuddly and 31 more...
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TN9 Lesson 105
dig, backyard, bury, detective, mystery, solve, vegetable garden, plant, Sherlock Holmes, honk, complain, to drive someone ... and 10 more...
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a manner of speaking
Generally, I feel that "they said" is the best way to tag speech in reporting or fiction, but sometimes you want a verb that expresses something about the way a thing is said or shows the attitude ...
mutter, mumble, pronounce, state, whisper, murmur, suggest, ask, inquire, hint, pout, surmise and 50 more...
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news words
the new words learned.
Tweets
Looking for tweets for complain.
oroboros comPlAiN May 4, 2008