take (great) pains

phrase

: to try hard (to do something)

He took (great) pains to explain the situation to us.

Examples of take (great) pains in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even the least superstitious Singaporeans take pains to insure their investments against supernatural disturbance. — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025

Yet, the new Terminal 1 has several stores that take great pains to include local flair. — Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Sep. 2025

Trump, who has been an unpredictable ally in the past, appeared to take pains to be more dependable for Ukraine and NATO. — Naomi Lim, The Washington Examiner, 16 Aug. 2025

End users should take pains to use only FIDO-compliant forms of authentication, although the distinction between the two in the attack Expel described may not be easy for some. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 18 July 2025