trouble

See also troublé

English

Etymology

Verb is from Middle English troublen, trublen, turblen, from Old French troubler, trobler, trubler, metethetic variants of Old French tourbler, torbler, turbler, from Medieval Latin *turbulāre, from Latin turbula (“disorderly group, a little crowd or people”), diminutive of turba (“stir, crowd”). The noun is from Middle English truble, troble, from Old French troble, from the verb.

Pronunciation

enPR: trŭb'l; IPA: [tɹʌbl̩], /tɹʌbəl/; X-SAMPA: ["trVbl=], /trVb@l/
Audio (US)
(file)

Rhymes: -ʌbəl

Noun

trouble (plural troubles)

A distressful or dangerous situation.
He was in trouble when the rain started.
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.
A violent occurrence or event.
the troubles in Northern Ireland
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.
A malfunction.
He's been in hospital with some heart trouble.

My old car has engine trouble.
Liability to punishment; conflict with authority.
He had some trouble with the law.
(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

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)

Maori: raru (mi), māreherehe (mi)
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)

Verb

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

(transitive, now rare) To disturb, stir up, agitate (a medium, especially water).
(transitive) To mentally distress; to cause (someone) to be anxious or perplexed.
(transitive) In weaker sense: to bother; to annoy, pester.
Question 3 in the test is troubling me.
(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)