pain
pain
noun
/peɪn/
1 uncountable, countable the feelings that you have in your body when you have been hurt or when you are ill
a cry of pain
in pain She was clearly in a lot of pain.
He screamed in pain as he fell to his knees.
pain in something He felt a sharp pain in his knee.
chronic/acute/severe pain
patients suffering from back pain
stomach/chest/abdominal/back pains
You get more aches and pains as you get older.
The booklet contains information on pain relief during labour.
This cream should help to relieve the pain.
These pills should ease the pain.
to feel/experience/suffer pain
It's wrong to inflict pain on any animal.
I was able to learn pain management techniques.
SEE ALSO growing pains
TOPICS Health problems A2
Collocations
adjective
acute
agonizing
awful
… of pain
spasm
stab
verb + pain
be in
be racked with
experience
pain + verb
begin
come
occur
pain + noun
control
management
relief
preposition
pain in
phrases
aches and pains
a cry of pain
a threshold for pain…
2 uncountable, countable mental or emotional difficulty
the pain of something the pain of separation
the pain of doing something It took him several years to get over the pain of losing his job.
I never meant to cause her pain.
the pleasures and pains of growing old
a life full of pain and suffering
TOPICS Feelings A2
Collocations
adjective
great
immense
intense
verb + pain
cause (somebody)
give somebody
inflict…
phrases
the pain etched on somebody’s face
3 ​countable (informal) a person or thing that is very annoying
She can be a real pain when she's in a bad mood.
It's a pain having to go all that way for just one meeting.
TOPICS Personal qualities B2
Idioms
no pain, no gain
on/under pain of something
a pain in the neck
Word Origin
Middle English (in the sense ‘suffering inflicted as punishment for an offence’): from Old French peine, from Latin poena ‘penalty’, later ‘pain’.