English▸ noun
1 physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury:
she's in great pain
[count noun] chest pains
those who suffer from back pain.
▪ mental suffering or distress:
the pain of loss.
▸ verb [with object] cause mental or physical pain to:
it pains me to say this
her legs had been paining her.
▪ [no object] mainly North American (of a part of the body) hurt:
sometimes my right hand would pain.
– PHRASES
be at pains to do something
take great care or trouble to do something:
as an unfairly bad return for efforts or trouble:
suffering is necessary in order to achieve something:
the penalty for disobedience or shortcoming being:
be at pains to do something
take great care or trouble to do something:
he is at pains to point out that he isn't like that.
for one's pains informal as an unfairly bad return for efforts or trouble:
he was sued for his pains.
no pain, no gain suffering is necessary in order to achieve something:
get them knees up—no pain, no gain!
[originally used as a slogan in fitness classes.]
on pain of (also under pain of) the penalty for disobedience or shortcoming being:
all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment.
– ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense ‘suffering inflicted as punishment for an offense’): from Old French peine, from Latin poena ‘penalty’, later ‘pain’.