Contextualizebeta

complain

verb
/kəmˈpleɪn/

Etymology

From Middle English complaynen, from Old French complaindre, from Medieval Latin complangere (“to bewail, complain”), from Latin com- (“together”) + plangere (“to strike, beat, as the breast in extreme grief, bewail”); see plain, plaint.

  1. derived from com-
  2. derived from complangere
  3. derived from complaindre
  4. inherited from complaynen

Definitions

  1. To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.

    • Joe was always complaining about the noise made by his neighbours.
    • O loſs of ſight, of thee I moſt complain!

  2. To make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge.

    • They've complained about me to the police again.
    • Now, Master Shallow, you'll complain of me to the king?
    • If you get cheated by the Better Business Bureau, who do you complain to?

  3. To creak or squeak, as a timber or wheel.

    • the complaining bed-springs

The neighborhood

Derived

can't complain, complainable, complainee, complainer, complainingly, complainingness, complain king, complain queen, complainy, noncomplaining, uncomplained, uncomplaining, you'd complain if you were hung with a new rope

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for complain. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA