Entry Word: pain

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 a sharp unpleasant sensation usually felt in some specific part of the body <the child was crying because of a pain in her knee>

Synonyms ache, pang, prick, smart, sting, stitch, throe, tingle, twinge

Related Words discomfort, distress, soreness, tenderness; agony, anguish, misery, suffering, torment, torture; inflammation, swelling; damage, harm, hurt, injury; backache, bellyache, charley horse, colic, earache, gripe, headache, stomachache, toothache

Near Antonyms comfort, ease

2 a state of great suffering of body or mind <a sprained ankle caused him great pain for a week> — see distress 1
3 pains pluralstrict attentiveness to what one is doing <take pains to be sure that you donʼt damage anything> — see care 1
4 pains pluralthe active use of energy in producing a result <she was at pains to reassure us that everything would be fine> — see effort