trouble

See also troublé

English

Etymology

Verb is from Middle English troblen, from Old French trobler, from Medieval Latin *turbulare, from Latin turbula (“disorderly group, a little crowd or people”), diminutive of turba (“stir, crowd”). The noun is from Middle English troble, from Old French troble,

Pronunciation

• enPR: trŭb'l; IPA: [tɹʌbl̩], /tɹʌbəl/; X-SAMPA: ["trVbl=], /trVb@l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌbəl

Noun

trouble (plural troubles)

1. A distressful or dangerous situation.

   He was in trouble when the rain started.

2. A difficulty, problem, condition, or action contributing to such a situation.
   • Milton

     Lest the fiend […] some new trouble raise.

   • Shakespeare

     Foul whisperings are abroad; unnatural deeds / Do breed unnatural troubles.

   The trouble was a leaking brake line.

   The trouble with that suggestion is that we lack the funds to put it in motion.

   The bridge column magnified the trouble with a slight tilt in the wrong direction.

3. A violent occurrence or event.

   the troubles in Northern Ireland

4. Efforts taken or expended, typically beyond the normal required.
   • Bryant

     She never took the trouble to close them.

   It's no trouble for me to edit it.

5. A malfunction.

   He's been in hospital with some heart trouble.

   My old car has engine trouble.

6. Liability to punishment; conflict with authority.

   He had some trouble with the law.

7. (mining) A fault or interruption in a stratum.

Usage notes

• Verbs often used with "trouble": make, spell, stir, ask for, etc.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:difficult situation

Derived terms

ask for trouble distrouble double trouble engine trouble get into trouble

in trouble teething troubles trouble and strife troubled trouble-free

troublemaker/trouble maker troubler The Troubles troubleshoot

troubleshooter troubleshooting troublesome trouble spot

Translations

distressful or dangerous situation

• Arabic: مشكلة (ar) (múshkila) f
• Belarusian: бяда (be) (biada) 
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 麻煩 (cmn), 麻烦 (cmn) (máfán)

• Finnish: hankaluudet (fi) pl, vaikeudet (fi) pl
• French: peine (fr) f
• German: Ärger (de) m
• Guernésiais: pôïne f
• Hawaiian: pilikia
• Hindi: तकलीफ़ (hi) (taklīf) f, कष्ट (hi) (kaṣṭ) m

• Italian: guaio (it) m
• Japanese: 揉め事 (ja) (もめごと, mome-goto), 厄介事 (ja) (やっかいごと, yakkai-goto), 迷惑 (ja) (めいわく, meiwaku)
• Polish: kłopoty (pl) pl
• Russian: беда (ru) (bedá) f , злоключение (ru) (zloključénije) n , неприятность (ru) (neprijátnost') f , горе (ru) (góre) n 
• Scottish Gaelic: dragh (gd) m, èiginn (gd) f, buaireas (gd) m, teanntachd (gd) f, trioblaid (gd) f
• Ukrainian: халепа (uk) (xalepa)
• Urdu: تکلیف (ur) (taklīf) f, کشٹ (ur) (kaṣṭ) m

difficulty

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 困难 (cmn) (kùnnán), 困難 (cmn) (kùnnán)

• Finnish: hankaluus (fi), ongelma (fi)
• Hawaiian: pilikia
• Japanese: 心配事 (ja) (しんぱいごと, shimpai-goto), 問題 (ja) (もんだい, mondai)

• Polish: kłopot (pl) m, problem (pl) m
• Russian: затруднение (ru) (zatrudnénije) n , трудность (ru) (trúdnost') f 
• Scottish Gaelic: duilgheadas (gd) m, èiginn (gd) f, teanntachd (gd) f, trioblaid (gd) f
• Walloon: rujhe (wa) f

violent occurrence

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 冲突 (cmn) (chōngtū), 衝突 (cmn) (chōngtū)

• Finnish: levottomuudet (fi) pl, selkkaus (fi), tappelu (fi), mekkala (fi)

• Japanese: 揉め事 (ja) (もめごと, mome-goto), 厄介事 (ja) (やっかいごと, yakkai-goto)
• Russian: беда (ru) (bedá) f 
• Scottish Gaelic: buaireas (gd) m

effort

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: （花费精力）去做 (cmn) (qùzuò)

• Finnish: vaiva (fi), vaivannäkö (fi)

• Japanese: 厄介 (ja) (やっかい, yakkai), 骨折り (ja) (ほねおり, honeori)
• Polish: trud (pl) m
• Russian: труд (ru) (trud) m , усилие (ru) (usílije) n , заботы (ru) (zabóty) f pl , хлопоты (ru) (xlópoty) f pl 

malfunction

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 故障 (cmn) (gùzhàng)

• Finnish: häiriö (fi), ongelma (fi)
• German: Störung (de) f

• Japanese: 障害 (ja) (しょうがい, shōgai), 問題 (ja) (もんだい, mondai)
• Russian: неполадки (ru) (nepoládki) m pl 
• Scottish Gaelic: trioblaid (gd) f
• Walloon: mehin (wa) m

conflict with law

• Finnish: ongelma (fi), vaikeudet (fi) pl

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: mund (sq) m
• Arabic: اضطراب (ar) (’iɖʈirá:b) m
• Catalan: treball (ca) m
• Mandarin: 麻煩 (cmn), 麻烦 (cmn) (máfán)
• Serbo-Croatian: muka (sh) f, trud (sh) m, poteškoća (sh), napor (sh), problem (sh), nevolja (sh), neprilika (sh)
• Dutch: last (nl), zorg (nl), probleem (nl) n
• Tagalog: hirap (tl), Tagalog: problema (tl)
• French: peine (fr) f, souci (fr)
• German: Mühe (de) f, Sorge (de) f, Ärger (de) m, Ungemach (de) n
• Hiligaynon: problema
• Hungarian: fáradság (hu), (1) baj (hu), (1) gond (hu), (2) zavar (hu)
• Italian: pena (it) f, disturbo (it) m, disagio (it) m
• Korean: 걱정 (ko) (geokjeong), 곤란 (ko) (gollan)
• Kurdish: چه‌رمه‌سه‌ری (ku)

• Old Norse: úmaki m, úmak n
• Portuguese: (1) problema (pt) m, preocupação (pt) f, fadiga (pt) f
• Romanian: păs (ro), problemă (ro)
• Santali: ᱚᱡᱚᱨ (ajar)
• Spanish: problema (es) f, pena (es) f
• Swahili: vurugu (sw), gaya (sw)
• Swedish: besvär (sv), möda (sv)
• Tagalog: problema (tl), hirap (tl)
• Telugu: ఇబ్బంది (te) (ibbaMdi), గొడవ (te) (goDava)

See also

• Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take for uses and meaning of trouble collocated with these words.

Verb

trouble (third-person singular simple present troubles, present participle troubling, simple past and past participle troubled)

1. (transitive, now rare) To disturb, stir up, agitate (a medium, especially water).
2. (transitive) To mentally distress; to cause (someone) to be anxious or perplexed.
3. (transitive) In weaker sense: to bother; to annoy, pester.

   Question 3 in the test is troubling me.

4. (reflexive or intransitive) To take pains to do something.
   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.26:

     Why trouble about the future? It is wholly uncertain.

Translations

to bother; to annoy

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 麻煩 (cmn), 麻烦 (cmn) (máfán), 騷攪 (cmn), 骚搅 (cmn) (sāojiǎo)

• Finnish: vaivata (fi)
• French: troubler (fr), déranger (fr)
• German: beunruhigen (de), belästigen (de), bekümmern (de)
• Italian: esagitare (it), infastidire (it)
• Japanese: 手数を掛ける (ja) (てすうをかける, tesū-o kakeru), 面倒を掛ける (ja) (めんどうをかける, mendō-o kakeru)
• Polish: przeszkadzać (pl), dokuczać (pl), niepokoić (pl)

• Russian: беспокоить (ru) (bespokóit')  impf., побеспокоить (ru) (pobespokóit')  pf., обеспокоить (ru) (obespokóit')  pf., тревожить (ru) (trevóžit')  impf., потревожить (ru) (potrevóžit')  pf., встревожить (ru) (vstrevóžit')  pf., волновать (ru) (volnovát')  impf., взволновать (ru) (vzvolnovát')  pf.
• Scottish Gaelic: buair (gd), cuir dragh air (gd)
• Spanish: molestar (es), fastidiar (es), agobiar (es)
• Swahili: vurugu (sw), gaya (sw)
• Tagalog: istorbo (tl), pahirapan (tl)

Related terms

• turbid
• turbulent

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: chance · happened · broken · #642: trouble · die · arm · wrong

External links

• trouble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• trouble in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

trouble m (plural troubles)

1. trouble
2. (medicine) disorder

   trouble bipolaire

   bipolar disorder

Verb

trouble

1. first-person singular present indicative of troubler
2. third-person singular present indicative of troubler
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of troubler
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of troubler
5. second-person singular imperative of troubler