English Online Dictionary. What means worry? What does worry mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English worien, werien, wirien, wirwen, wyryȝen (“to choke, strangle”), from Old English wyrġan, from Proto-Germanic *wurgijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ- (“bind, squeeze”).
Cognate with Dutch worgen, wurgen, German würgen. Compare Latin urgere (“to press, push”), Sanskrit वृहति (vṛhati, “to tear out, pluck”), Lithuanian ver̃žti (“to string; squeeze”), Russian (poetic) отверза́ть (otverzátʹ, “to open”, literally “to untie”). Related to wring.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, New Zealand, General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈwʌɹi/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈwʌɹi/
- (accents without the "Hurry-furry" merger)
- (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈwɚi/
- (accents with the "Hurry-furry" merger)
- (New Zealand, General Australian, UK, nonstandard) IPA(key): /ˈwɒɹi/
- (West Country, nonstandard) IPA(key): /ˈwəʊɹi/
- Rhymes: -ʌɹi
Verb
worry (third-person singular simple present worries, present participle worrying, simple past and past participle worried)
- (intransitive) To be troubled; to give way to mental anxiety or doubt.
- (transitive) Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress.
- (transitive) To harass; to irritate or distress.
- (transitive) To seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf.
- (transitive) To touch repeatedly, to fiddle with.
- (transitive, obsolete, Scotland) To strangle.
Synonyms
- (be troubled mentally): fret, (stress)
- (trouble someone mentally): concern, fret, preoccupy, vex
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
worry (countable and uncountable, plural worries)
- A strong feeling of anxiety.
- An instance or cause of such a feeling.
- A person who causes worry.
Derived terms
Translations
Scots
Etymology
From Middle English worien, from Old English wyrġan, from Proto-Germanic *wurgijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ- (“bind, squeeze”).
Verb
worry
- (transitive) To strangle.