pains

Noun

pain (countable and uncountable, plural pains)

1. An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt.
   • The greatest difficulty lies in treating patients with chronic pain.

   Antonyms:

   pleasure, beatitude, bliss, delectation, delight, ecstasy, euphoria, lust, nirvana, rapture

   1. (plural-normally) The pangs or sufferings of childbirth, caused by contractions of the uterus.
      • When the pains are every five minutes and quite strong or the cervix is five cm. dilated along with regular and strong pains, the mother is given a block anesthesia of 1 cc. of 1:200 nupercaine, 1 cc. of 10 per cent dextrose with .05 cc. of 1:1000 adrenalin.1951 February, Forrest H. Howard, “The Physiologic Position for Delivery”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 2, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 99
2. (uncountable) The condition or fact of suffering or anguish especially mental, as opposed to pleasure; torment; distress
   • In the final analysis, pain is a fact of life.

   Synonyms:

   anguish, rend, difficulty, distress, grief, hardship, smart, torment, torture, trouble

3. (countable) An annoying person or thing.
   • Your mother is a right pain.

   Synonyms:

   pest, annoyance, bother, faff, grievance, hassle, inconvenience, irritation, nuisance, palaver

4. (dated, uncountable) Suffering inflicted as punishment or penalty.
   • You may not leave this room on pain of death.
5. (in plural) Labour; effort; great care or trouble taken in doing something.
   • The transition to N.E.P. was due to the catastrophic failure of this policy-a failure predicted by the Mensheviks and S.R.s, who for their pains had been denounced, imprisoned, and murdered as henchmen of the White Guards.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in...

   Synonyms:

   effort, exertion, pains, wark, work

See all 13 meanings of pain