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What is the difference between trouble and problem?

trouble | problem |

As nouns the difference between trouble and problem

is that trouble is a distressful or dangerous situation while problem is a difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with.

As a verb trouble

is to disturb, stir up, agitate (a medium, especially water).

As an adjective problem is

difficult to train or guide; unruly.

trouble

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A distressful or dangerous situation.
  • A difficulty, problem, condition, or action contributing to such a situation.
  • * (John Milton)
  • Lest the fiend some new trouble raise.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • Foul whisperings are abroad; unnatural deeds / Do breed unnatural troubles .
  • A violent occurrence or event.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=“I don't know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble . It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. […]”}}
  • Efforts taken or expended, typically beyond the normal required.
  • * Bryant
  • She never took the trouble to close them.
  • *1881 , :
  • *:Indeed, by the report of our elders, this nervous preparation for old age is only trouble thrown away.
  • A malfunction.
  • Liability to punishment; conflict with authority.
  • (mining) A fault or interruption in a stratum.
  • Usage notes

    * Verbs often used with "trouble": make, spell, stir up, ask for, etc.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * ask for trouble * distrouble * double trouble * engine trouble * get into trouble * in trouble * teething troubles * trouble and strife * troubled * trouble-free * trouble in paradise * troublemaker/trouble maker * troubler * The Troubles * troubleshoot * troubleshooter * troubleshooting * troublesome * trouble spot

    See also

    * for uses and meaning of trouble collocated with these words.

    Verb

    (troubl)
  • To disturb, stir up, agitate (a medium, especially water).
  • * Bible, John v. 4
  • An angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water.
  • * Milton
  • God looking forth will trouble all his host.
  • To mentally distress; to cause (someone) to be anxious or perplexed.
  • * Bible, John xii. 27
  • Now is my soul troubled .
  • * Shakespeare
  • Take the boy to you; he so troubles me / 'Tis past enduring.
  • * John Locke
  • Never trouble yourself about those faults which age will cure.
  • In weaker sense: to bother; to annoy, pester.
  • Question 3 in the test is troubling me.
    I will not trouble you to deliver the letter.
  • To take pains to do something.
  • * 1946 , (Bertrand Russell), History of Western Philosophy , I.26:
  • Why trouble about the future? It is wholly uncertain.

    Statistics

    *

    problem

    Alternative forms

    * probleme (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with.
  • :
  • *
  • *:“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-03-07, author= Nicole Vulser
  • , volume=190, issue=13, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Perfume manufacturers must cope with the scarcity of precious supplies , passage=The perfume industry is facing a major problem : maintaining constant levels of quality is crucial, but it is increasingly difficult to obtain a regular supply of all the necessary natural ingredients.}}
  • A question to be answered, schoolwork exercise.
  • A puzzling circumstance.
  • Antonyms

    * solution

    Derived terms

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Difficult to train or guide; unruly.
  • See also

    * trouble

    Noun

  • a (l)
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