Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.
- intransitive verb To make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge; file a complaint.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Complaint; outcry.
- 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.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To lament; to bewail.
- intransitive verb 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. - intransitive verb To make a formal accusation; to make a charge.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive To
express feelings ofpain ,dissatisfaction , orresentment . - verb intransitive To make a
formal accusation or bring aformal charge .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
- verb make a formal accusation; bring a formal charge
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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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.
Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: Comedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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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.
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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 2009
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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 2009
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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.
For U.S. and China, Co-Dependency Breeds Bilateral Risk David Wessel 2010
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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 2009
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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.
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And I will never again complain about my failed induction and 2 days of 3-minute contractions, I promise!
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My only complain is how fantastically slow Smith is.
What Are You Reading? | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment 2009
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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.
oroboros commented on the word complain
comPlAiN
May 4, 2008