Library / English Dictionary

PAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A somatic sensation of acute discomfort

Example:

as the intensity increased the sensation changed from tickle to pain

Synonyms:

pain; pain sensation; painful sensation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("pain" is a kind of...):

somaesthesia; somatesthesia; somatic sensation; somesthesia (the perception of tactual or proprioceptive or gut sensations)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pain"):

mittelschmerz (pain in the area of the ovary that is felt at the time of ovulation (usually midway through the menstrual cycle))

phantom limb pain (pain felt by an amputee that seems to be located in the missing limb)

twinge (a sharp stab of pain)

Derivation:

pain (cause bodily suffering to and make sick or indisposed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness

Example:

he's not a friend, he's an infliction

Synonyms:

annoyance; bother; botheration; infliction; pain; pain in the ass; pain in the neck

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("pain" is a kind of...):

negative stimulus (a stimulus with undesirable consequences)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pain"):

nuisance ((law) a broad legal concept including anything that disturbs the reasonable use of your property or endangers life and health or is offensive)

irritant; thorn (something that causes irritation and annoyance)

plague (an annoyance)

Derivation:

pain (cause emotional anguish or make miserable)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Emotional distress; a fundamental feeling that people try to avoid

Example:

the pain of loneliness

Synonyms:

pain; painfulness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("pain" is a kind of...):

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pain"):

distress; hurt; suffering (psychological suffering)

hurt; suffering (feelings of mental or physical pain)

mental anguish (sustained dull painful emotion)

unpleasantness (the feeling caused by disagreeable stimuli; one pole of a continuum of states of feeling)

growing pains (emotional distress arising during adolescence)

Antonym:

pleasure (a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience)

Derivation:

pain (cause emotional anguish or make miserable)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A bothersome annoying person

Example:

that kid is a terrible pain

Synonyms:

nuisance; pain; pain in the neck

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("pain" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A symptom of some physical hurt or disorder

Example:

the patient developed severe pain and distension

Synonyms:

hurting; pain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("pain" is a kind of...):

symptom ((medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pain"):

neuralgia; neuralgy (acute spasmodic pain along the course of one or more nerves)

odynophagia (severe pain on swallowing due to a disorder of the esophagus)

orchidalgia (pain in the testes)

pang (a sharp spasm of pain)

pang; sting (a mental pain or distress)

photalgia; photophobia (pain in the eye resulting from exposure to bright light (often associated with albinism))

costalgia; pleuralgia; pleurodynia (pain in the chest caused by inflammation of the muscles between the ribs)

podalgia (foot pain)

proctalgia (pain in the rectum)

referred pain (pain that is felt at a place in the body different from the injured or diseased part where the pain would be expected)

renal colic (sharp pain in the lower back that radiates into the groin; associated with the passage of a renal calculus through the ureter)

smart; smarting; smartness (a kind of pain such as that caused by a wound or a burn or a sore)

sting; stinging (a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung)

stitch (a sharp spasm of pain in the side resulting from running)

rawness; soreness; tenderness (a pain that is felt (as when the area is touched))

thermalgesia (pain caused by heat)

throb (a deep pulsating type of pain)

torment; torture (unbearable physical pain)

ulalgia (pain in the gums)

urodynia (pain during urination)

ache; aching (a dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain)

agony; excruciation; suffering (a state of acute pain)

arthralgia (pain in a joint or joints)

burn; burning (pain that feels hot as if it were on fire)

causalgia (a burning pain in a limb along the course of a peripheral nerve; usually associated with skin changes)

colic; gripes; griping; intestinal colic (acute abdominal pain (especially in infants))

chest pain (pain in the chest)

chiralgia (a pain in the hand that is not traumatic)

distress (extreme physical pain)

dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation)

glossalgia; glossodynia (pain in the tongue)

growing pains (pain in muscles or joints sometimes experienced by children and often attributed to rapid growth)

keratalgia (pain in the cornea)

labor pain (pain and discomfort associated with contractions of the uterus during labor)

mastalgia (pain in the breast)

melagra (rheumatic or myalgic pains in the arms or legs)

meralgia (pain in the thigh)

metralgia (pain in the uterus)

myalgia; myodynia (pain in a muscle or group of muscles)

nephralgia (pain in the kidney (usually felt in the loins))

Derivation:

pain (cause bodily suffering to and make sick or indisposed)

pain (cause emotional anguish or make miserable)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause bodily suffering to and make sick or indisposed

Synonyms:

ail; pain; trouble

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "pain" is one way to...):

hurt (give trouble or pain to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pain"):

break out; erupt; recrudesce (become raw or open)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

pain (a somatic sensation of acute discomfort)

pain (a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause emotional anguish or make miserable

Example:

It pains me to see my children not being taught well in school

Synonyms:

anguish; hurt; pain

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "pain" is one way to...):

discomfit; discompose; disconcert; untune; upset (cause to lose one's composure)

Cause:

suffer (experience (emotional) pain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pain"):

break someone's heart (cause deep emotional pain and grief to somebody)

agonise; agonize (cause to agonize)

try (give pain or trouble to)

excruciate; rack; torment; torture (torment emotionally or mentally)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will pain him

Derivation:

pain (something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness)

pain (emotional distress; a fundamental feeling that people try to avoid)

pain (a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder)

Credits

 Context examples: 

He winced as if in pain.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In that case, the goal of treatment is to improve symptoms and relieve pain.

(Movement Disorders, NIH)

Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) History; do you ever have any burning pain in your legs and/or feet?

(MNSI - Burning Pain Legs/Feet, NCI Thesaurus)

I writhed under his words, yet dared not exhibit the pain I felt.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The pain is throbbing or pulsing, and is often on one side of the head.

(Migraine, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Methylnaltrexone binds to opioid receptors outside the brain and may block the side effects of opioid drugs without affecting their ability to relieve pain.

(Methylnaltrexone, NCI Dictionary)

Severe pain doesn't always mean a serious problem.

(Abdominal Pain, NIH)

Acetaminophen is one of the world's most commonly used drugs, used for the treatment of pain and fever.

(Acetaminophen Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

A dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain.

(Ache, NCI Thesaurus)

A drug used to treat moderate to severe pain that does not respond to other types of pain medicine.

(Methadone hydrochloride, NCI Dictionary)