- pain
- noun1 physical painADJECTIVE▪ acute, agonizing, awful, blinding, excruciating, extreme, great, immense, intense, severe, terrible, unbearable, unimaginable▪ aching, burning, cramping, numbing, piercing, searing, sharp, shooting, stabbing, stinging, throbbing▪
She had a burning pain in one eye.
▪ dull, little, mild, slight▪ debilitating▪ chronic, constant, nagging, persistent▪ sudden▪ intermittent▪ recurrent▪ bodily, physical▪ abdominal, back, chest, joint, leg, muscle, pelvic, shoulder, stomach▪She's been in bed with back pain.
▪He went to the doctor with chest pains.
▪ menstrual, period (esp. BrE)▪ arthritis▪ labor pain (AmE), labour/labor pains (BrE, AmE)▪ growing pains▪ phantom▪the phantom pain of a lost limb
… OF PAIN▪ spasm, stabVERB + PAIN▪ be in, be racked with, experience, feel, get, go through, have, suffer, suffer from▪He was obviously in a great deal of pain.
▪Can you feel any pain?
▪Marathon runners are used to going through pain.
▪He was taken to the hospital suffering from severe abdominal pain.
▪ cause, give sb, inflict▪His back gives him a lot of pain.
▪It's wrong to inflict pain on any animal.
▪ aggravate, exacerbate, increase, make worse▪ alleviate, block out, deaden, dull, ease, help, kill, lessen, numb, reduce, relieve, soothe, stop▪These pills should ease the pain.
▪ control, manage▪The treatments helped manage his pain.
▪ minimize▪ treat▪Doctors used to treat back pain with rest.
▪ bear, endure, put up with, stand, take, withstand▪ ignore▪ cry out in, cry with, groan with, scream with▪ be contorted with, contort in▪His face was contorted with pain as he crossed the finish line.
PAIN + VERB▪ begin, come, occur, start▪The pains began shortly after she started work as a gardener.
▪ erupt, flare, flare up▪ hit sb/sth, strike sb/sth▪A sharp pain hit the middle of my chest and I collapsed.
▪ course through sb/sth, flash through sth, flood sth, lance through sb/sth (literary, esp. AmE), radiate from sth to sth, rip through sb/sth, rush through sb/sth, rush up sb/sth, sear through sb/sth, shoot through sth, shoot up sth, stab sb/sth, surge through sb/sth, sweep over sb/sth, sweep through sb/sth, tear through sb/sth, throb, wash over sb▪A sharp pain shot up his leg.
▪ overwhelm sb, wrack sb/sth▪Pain wracked her frail body once more.
▪ grow stronger, increase, intensify, worsen▪ disappear, ease, fade, go, recede, stop, subside▪Has the pain gone yet?
▪ persist▪If the pain persists, see your doctor.
▪ come back, returnPAIN + NOUN▪ control, management, relief▪ killer (usually painkiller), medication, medicine, pill (esp. AmE), reliever▪ sufferer▪ symptoms▪ specialist▪ clinic▪ threshold, tolerance▪ level▪ intensity, severity▪ sensationPREPOSITION▪ pain in▪a pain in her side
PHRASES▪ aches and pains▪Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and pains.
▪ a cry of pain▪ a threshold for pain (esp. AmE), a threshold of pain▪I have a very low threshold for pain.
2 unhappinessADJECTIVE▪ great, immense, intense, terrible▪ numbing▪ indescribable, unspeakable▪ emotionalVERB + PAIN▪ cause (sb), give sb, inflict▪Through her drug addiction she had inflicted a lot of pain on the family.
▪ feel, go through▪ know▪She knew the pain of separation.
▪ get over▪It took him several years to get over the pain of losing his job.
▪ dull, ease, lessen, numb▪ heal▪Nothing could heal the pain of her son's death.
▪ spare sb▪We hoped to spare her the pain of having to meet her attacker.
▪ express▪ share▪It was lovely to have someone there to share both the pain and the joy.
▪ conceal, hide, mask▪He tried to conceal his pain from her.
▪ forget▪For a few moments she forgot the pain he had caused her.
▪ bear, endure, withstand▪ relive▪I don't want to relive the pain of losing her.
▪ sense▪I could sense her pain and put my arm around her.
▪ prolongPHRASES▪ the pain etched on sb's face▪Ellen saw the pain etched on his face when he mentioned his ex-wife's name.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
