Worry definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WORRY, v.t.
1. To tease; to trouble; to harass with importunity, or with care and anxiety. Persons are often worried with care and solicitude.
Let them rail and then worry one another at their pleasure.
Worry him out till he gives his consent.
A church worried with reformation.
2. To fatigue; to harass with labor; a popular sense of the word.
3. To harass by pursuit and barking; as, dogs worry sheep.
4. To tear; to mangle with the teeth.
5. To vex; to persecute brutally.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness; "New York traffic is a constant concern"; "it's a major worry" [syn: concern, worry, headache, vexation]
2: a strong feeling of anxiety; "his worry over the prospect of being fired"; "it is not work but worry that kills"; "he wanted to die and end his troubles" [syn: worry, trouble] v
1: be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy; "I worry about my job"
2: be concerned with; "I worry about my grades" [syn: worry, care]
3: disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress; "I cannot sleep--my daughter's health is worrying me" [syn: worry, vex] [ant: assure, reassure]
4: be on the mind of; "I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift" [syn: concern, interest, occupy, worry]
5: lacerate by biting; "the dog worried his bone"
6: touch or rub constantly; "The old man worried his beads"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (worried; worrying) Etymology: Middle English worien, from Old English wyrgan; akin to Old High German wurgen to strangle, Lithuanian ver˛ti to constructionct Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. dialect British choke, strangle 2. a. to harass by tearing, biting, or snapping especially at the throat b. to shake or pull at with the teeth <a terrier worrying a rat> c. to touch or disturb something repeatedly d. to change the position of or adjust by repeated pushing or hauling 3. a. to assail with rough or aggressive attack or treatment ; torment b. to subject to persistent or nagging attention or effort 4. to afflict with mental distress or agitation ; make anxious intransitive verb 1. dialect British strangle, choke 2. to move, proceed, or progress by unceasing or difficult effort ; struggle 3. to feel or experience concern or anxiety ; fret <worrying about his health> • worriedly adverb • worrier noun • worryingly adverb Synonyms: worry, annoy, harass, harry, plague, pester, tease mean to disturb or irritate by persistent acts. worry implies an incessant goading or attacking that drives one to desperation <pursued a policy of worrying the enemy>. annoy implies disturbing one's composure or peace of mind by intrusion, interference, or petty attacks <you're doing that just to annoy me>. harass implies petty persecutions or burdensome demands that exhaust one's nervous or mental power <harassed on all sides by creditors>. harry may imply heavy oppression or maltreatment <the strikers had been harried by thugs>. plague implies a painful and persistent affliction <plagued all her life by poverty>. pester stresses the repetition of petty attacks <constantly pestered with trivial complaints>. tease suggests an attempt to break down one's resistance or rouse to wrath <children teased the dog>. II. noun (plural worries) Date: 1804 1. a. mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated ; anxiety b. an instance or occurrence of such distress or agitation 2. a cause of worry ; trouble, difficulty Synonyms: see care

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (-ies, -ied) 1 intr. give way to anxiety or unease; allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. 2 tr. harass, importune; be a trouble or anxiety to. 3 tr. a (of a dog etc.) shake or pull about with the teeth. b attack repeatedly. 4 (as worried adj.) a uneasy, troubled in the mind. b suggesting worry (a worried look). --n. (pl. -ies) 1 a thing that causes anxiety or disturbs a person's tranquillity. 2 a disturbed state of mind; anxiety; a worried state. 3 a dog's worrying of its quarry. Phrases and idioms: not to worry colloq. there is no need to worry. worry along (or through) manage to advance by persistence in spite of obstacles. worry beads a string of beads manipulated with the fingers to occupy or calm oneself. worry-guts (or -wart) colloq. a person who habitually worries unduly. worry oneself (usu. in neg.) take needless trouble. worry out obtain (the solution to a problem etc.) by dogged effort. Derivatives: worriedly adv. worrier n. worryingly adv. Etymology: OE wyrgan strangle f. WG

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Worry Wor"ry, v. i. To feel or express undue care and anxiety; to manifest disquietude or pain; to be fretful; to chafe; as, the child worries; the horse worries.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Worry Wor"ry, n.; pl. Worries. A state of undue solicitude; a state of disturbance from care and anxiety; vexation; anxiety; fret; as, to be in a worry. ``The whir and worry of spindle and of loom.'' --Sir T. Browne.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Worry Wor"ry, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Worried; p. pr. & vb. n. Worrying.] [OE. worowen, wirien, to strangle, AS. wyrgan in [=a]wyrgan; akin to D. worgen, wurgen, to strangle, OHG. wurgen, G. w["u]rgen, Lith. verszti, and perhaps to E. wring.] 1. To harass by pursuit and barking; to attack repeatedly; also, to tear or mangle with the teeth. A hellhound that doth hunt us all to death; That dog that had his teeth before his eyes, To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood. --Shak. 2. To harass or beset with importunity, or with care an anxiety; to vex; to annoy; to torment; to tease; to fret; to trouble; to plague. ``A church worried with reformation.'' --South. Let them rail, And worry one another at their pleasure. --Rowe. Worry him out till he gives consent. --Swift. 3. To harass with labor; to fatigue. [Colloq.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(worries, worrying, worried) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you worry, you keep thinking about problems that you have or about unpleasant things that might happen. Don't worry, your luggage will come on afterwards by taxi... I worry about her constantly... They worry that extremists might gain control. VERB: V, V about n/-ing, V that 2. If someone or something worries you, they make you anxious because you keep thinking about problems or unpleasant things that might be connected with them. I'm still in the early days of my recovery and that worries me... 'Why didn't you tell us?'—'I didn't want to worry you.'... VERB: V n, V n 3. If someone or something does not worry you, you do not dislike them or you are not annoyed by them. (SPOKEN) The cold doesn't worry me... = bother VERB: oft with neg, V n 4. Worry is the state or feeling of anxiety and unhappiness caused by the problems that you have or by thinking about unpleasant things that might happen. His last years were overshadowed by financial worry. N-UNCOUNT 5. A worry is a problem that you keep thinking about and that makes you unhappy. My main worry was that Madeleine Johnson would still be there... His wife Cheryl said she had no worries about his health. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Tease, vex, plague, pain, harass, annoy, trouble, torment, pester, bother, bore, persecute, molest, harry, irritate, badger, fret, chafe, hector, infest, beset, gall, disturb, disquiet. II. v. n. (Colloq.) Fret, chafe, fidget, be vexed, be troubled, worry one's self. III. n. Anxiety, vexation, trouble, annoyance, perplexity, solicitude, care, disquiet, concern, uneasiness, fear, apprehension, misgiving.

Foolish Dictionary

A state of mind that leads some persons to fear, every time the tide goes out, that it won't come in again.

Moby Thesaurus

ado, afflict, aggravate, aggravation, aggrieve, agitate, ail, anguish, annoy, annoyance, anxiety, bad news, badger, bait, be at, be the matter, bedevil, bedevilment, beleaguer, beset, besetment, bore, bother, botheration, bothersomeness, bristle, brown off, bug, bullyrag, burn up, can of worms, care, carry on, chafe, chivy, complicate matters, concern, concernment, crashing bore, despair, devil, devilment, difficulty, disadvantage, discommode, discompose, disquiet, disquietude, distemper, distress, disturb, dog, dogging, doubt, downer, drag, dun, evil, exasperate, exasperation, exercise, fash, fret, fret and fume, fretting, fuss, get, give up, gnaw, goad, great ado, gripe, harass, harassment, harry, harrying, haunt, headache, heartache, heckle, hector, hound, hounding, inconvenience, irk, matter, miff, mistrust, molest, molestation, nag, needle, nettle, nudzh, nuisance, oppress, peck of troubles, peeve, pelt, perplex, persecute, persecution, perturb, pest, pester, pick on, pique, plague, pluck the beard, pother, presentiment, problem, provoke, put out, put to it, puzzle, ride, rile, roil, ruffle, sea of troubles, solicitude, stew, take on, tantalize, tease, test, torment, torture, trial, trouble, try, try the patience, tweak the nose, uncertainty, unease, uneasiness, upset, vex, vexation, vexatiousness, woe, worriedness, worries and cares, worriment, worrying, wrong