Library / English Dictionary

COMPLAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a formal accusation; bring a formal charge

Example:

The plaintiff's lawyer complained that he defendant had physically abused his client

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

charge (make an accusatory claim)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

complainant (a person who brings an action in a court of law)

complaint ((criminal law) a pleading describing some wrong or offense)

complaint ((civil law) the first pleading of the plaintiff setting out the facts on which the claim for relief is based)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness

Example:

She has a lot to kick about

Synonyms:

complain; kick; kvetch; plain; quetch; sound off

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

hen-peck; nag; peck (bother persistently with trivial complaints)

backbite; bitch (say mean things)

grizzle; whine; yammer; yawp (complain whiningly)

croak; gnarl; grumble; murmur; mutter (make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath)

grouch; grumble; scold (show one's unhappiness or critical attitude)

protest (utter words of protest)

repine (express discontent)

beef; bellyache; bitch; crab; gripe; grouse; holler; squawk (complain)

inveigh; rail (complain bitterly)

bemoan; bewail; deplore; lament (regret strongly)

report (complain about; make a charge against)

bleat (talk whiningly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They complain that there was a traffic accident

Antonym:

cheer (become cheerful)

Derivation:

complainer (a person given to excessive complaints and crying and whining)

complaint (an expression of grievance or resentment)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“It’s a shame, after working hard all day, that we cannot have an uninterrupted night’s sleep,” I complained, after supper.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It was her custom to be helpless. They complained.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

She complains of difficulty in breathing satisfactorily at times, and of heavy, lethargic sleep, with dreams that frighten her, but regarding which she can remember nothing.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Sleep is important for biological recovery and takes around a third of our lifetime, but in modern society more and more people complain of insomnia.

(Insomnia: Heart Attack, Stroke Risk, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Not that James ever complains; but it is right to spare our horses when we can.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

After all, you have nothing to complain of.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For the first time, also, I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were, and that I ought to render him happy before I complained of his wickedness.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Lady Bertram, I do not complain.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He often complains that things do not look as well upon him as upon me, but how can I make the obvious reply?

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I do not mean to complain, however; it is undoubtedly a comfortable one, and I hope will in time be better.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)