worry definition | Dictionary.com

wor⋅ry

[wur-ee, wuhr-ee]

verb, -ried, -ry⋅ing, noun, plural -ries.

–verb (used without object)

1.	to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.

2.	to move with effort: an old car worrying uphill.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to torment with cares, anxieties, etc.; trouble; plague.

4.	to seize, esp. by the throat, with the teeth and shake or mangle, as one animal does another.

5.	to harass by repeated biting, snapping, etc.

–noun

6.	a worried condition or feeling; uneasiness or anxiety.

7.	a cause of uneasiness or anxiety; trouble.

8.	act of worrying.

9.	Fox Hunting. the action of the hounds in tearing to pieces the carcass of a fox.

—Verb phrase

10.	worry along or through, Informal. to progress or succeed by constant effort, despite difficulty: to worry through an intolerable situation.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME weryen, werwen, wyrwyn to strangle, bite, harass, OE wyrgan to strangle; c. G würgen

Related forms:

wor⋅ri⋅er, noun

wor⋅ri⋅less, adjective

wor⋅ry⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
3. tease, harry, hector, badger, disquiet. Worry, annoy, harass all mean to disturb or interfere with someone's comfort or peace of mind. To worry is to cause anxiety, apprehension, or care: to worry one's parents. To annoy is to vex or irritate by continued repetition of interferences: to annoy the neighbors. Harass implies long-continued worry and annoyance: Cares of office harass a president. 6. apprehension, solicitude, disquiet, misgiving, fear. See concern.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To worry

wor·ry (wûr'ē, wŭr'ē)

v. wor·ried (wûr'ēd, wŭr'-), wor·ry·ing, wor·ries (wûr'ēz, wŭr'-)

v. intr.

To feel uneasy or concerned about something; be troubled. See Synonyms at brood.
To pull or tear at something with or as if with the teeth.
To proceed doggedly in the face of difficulty or hardship; struggle: worried along at the problem.

v. tr.

To cause to feel anxious, distressed, or troubled. See Synonyms at trouble.
To bother or annoy, as with petty complaints.
1. To seize with the teeth and shake or tug at repeatedly: a dog worrying a bone.
2. To attack roughly and repeatedly; harass.
3. To touch, move, or handle idly; toy with: worrying the loose tooth with his tongue.

n. pl. wor·ries

The act of worrying or the condition of being worried; persistent mental uneasiness. See Synonyms at anxiety.
A source of nagging concern or uneasiness.

[Middle English werien, worien, to strangle, from Old English wyrgan; see wer-² in Indo-European roots.]
wor'ri·er n.

Word History: Worrying may shorten one's life, but not as quickly as it once did. The ancestor of our word, Old English wyrgan, meant "to strangle." Its Middle English descendant, worien, kept this sense and developed the new sense "to grasp by the throat with the teeth and lacerate" or "to kill or injure by biting and shaking." This is the way wolves or dogs might attack sheep, for example. In the 16th century worry began to be used in the sense "to harass, as by rough treatment or attack," or "to assault verbally," and in the 17th century the word took on the sense "to bother, distress, or persecute." It was a small step from this sense to the main modern senses "to cause to feel anxious or distressed" and "to feel troubled or uneasy," first recorded in the 19th century.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Worry

Wor"ry\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Worried; p. pr. & vb. n. Worrying.] [OE. worowen, wirien, to strangle, AS. wyrgan in [=a]wyrgan; akin to D. worgen, wurgen, to strangle, OHG. wurgen, G. w["u]rgen, Lith. verszti, and perhaps to E. wring.]

1. To harass by pursuit and barking; to attack repeatedly; also, to tear or mangle with the teeth.

A hellhound that doth hunt us all to death; That dog that had his teeth before his eyes, To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood. --Shak.

2. To harass or beset with importunity, or with care an anxiety; to vex; to annoy; to torment; to tease; to fret; to trouble; to plague. "A church worried with reformation." --South.

Let them rail, And worry one another at their pleasure. --Rowe.

Worry him out till he gives consent. --Swift.

3. To harass with labor; to fatigue. [Colloq.]

Worry

Wor"ry\, v. i. To feel or express undue care and anxiety; to manifest disquietude or pain; to be fretful; to chafe; as, the child worries; the horse worries.

Worry

Wor"ry\, n.; pl. Worries. A state of undue solicitude; a state of disturbance from care and anxiety; vexation; anxiety; fret; as, to be in a worry. "The whir and worry of spindle and of loom." --Sir T. Browne.

Language Translation for : worry

Spanish: preocupar(se),

German: (sich) ängstigen,

Japanese: 心配させる

More Translations »

worry (v.)

O.E. wyrgan "to strangle," from W.Gmc. *wurgijanan (cf. M.Du. worghen, Du. worgen, O.H.G. wurgen, Ger. würgen "to strangle," O.N. virgill "rope"), from PIE *wergh- "to turn" (see wring). The oldest sense was obs. in Eng. after c.1600; meaning "annoy, bother, vex," first recorded 1671, developed from that of "harass by rough or severe treatment" (1553), as of dogs or wolves attacking sheep. Meaning "to cause mental distress or trouble" is attested from 1822; intrans. sense of "to feel anxiety or mental trouble" is first recorded 1860.

worry (n.)

1804, from worry (v.). Worrisome is first recorded 1845. Worry wart first recorded 1956, from comic strip "Out Our Way" by U.S. cartoonist J.R. Williams (1888-1957). According to those familiar with the strip, Worry Wart was the name of a character who caused others to worry, which is the inverse of the current colloq. meaning.

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