complain

From Middle English complaynen, from Old French complaindre, from Medieval Latin complangere (“to bewail, complain”), from Latin com- (“together”) + plangere (“to strike, beat, as the breast in extreme grief, bewail”); see plain, plaint.

• IPA^(key): /kəmˈpleɪn/

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• Rhymes: -eɪn

complain (third-person singular simple present complains, present participle complaining, simple past and past participle complained)

1. (intransitive) To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.

   Joe was always complaining about the noise made by his neighbours.

   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, line 67, page 12:

     O loſs of ſight, of thee I moſt complain!

2. (intransitive) To make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge.

   They've complained about me to the police again.

   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:

     Now, Master Shallow, you'll complain of me to the king?

   • 1997, Carlin, George, Brain Droppings‎, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, LCCN 96-52373, OCLC 36084460, OL 26335012M, page 85:

     If you get cheated by the Better Business Bureau, who do you complain to?

3. To creak or squeak, as a timber or wheel.

   the complaining bed-springs

• grumble
• grouse
• grump
• bitch
• beef
• gripe
• whine
• kvetch
• moan
• whinge
• See also Thesaurus:complain

• complain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• complain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

• amplicon