give someone grief

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

give someone grief (third-person singular simple present gives someone grief, present participle giving someone grief, simple past gave someone grief, past participle given someone grief)

1. To cause pain to someone.

   Her elbow has been giving her grief.

2. (idiomatic) To hassle or abuse someone.

   Fred was giving me grief over the money I owed him.

   • 2020 May 20, Andrew Haines talks to Stefanie Foster, “Repurpose rail for the 2020s”, in Rail, page 28:

     Some of his colleagues have "given him a bit of grief" for leaving his house, but Haines is quick to counter that he's following Government guidelines while out and about.