in trouble Definition

trouble
noun

1a. Distress, worry or concern;

Thesaurus: difficulty, strain, stress, cares, worries, distress.
1b. A cause of this.
2. Bother or effort, or a cause of this.

Example: go to a lot of trouble
Example: The dog was no trouble
3. A problem or difficulty.

Example: Your trouble is that you're too generous
4a. Public disturbances and unrest;

Thesaurus: conflict, fighting, feuding, agitation, unrest, rioting, bickering, dispute, argument, quarrelling.
Form: troubles (usually)
4b. A term used to describe the periods of civil war and unrest from 1919 to 23 and since 1969 in N Ireland.

Form: the Troubles
5a. Illness or weakness;

Example: heart trouble
5b. Malfunction; failure.

Example: engine trouble

verb troubled, troubling

1. To cause distress, worry, concern, anger, sadness, etc to

Example: What's troubling you?
Thesaurus: annoy, disturb, irritate, bother, vex, worry, harass, disconcert.
2. To cause physical distress or discomfort to.

Example: His weak knee always troubled him
3. Used especially in polite requests: to put someone to the inconvenience of (doing, saying, etc something)

Example: Could I trouble you to open the window a little?
intr
4. To make any effort or take pains.

Example: He didn't even trouble to tell me what had happened
Thesaurus: care, bother, be concerned with, make an effort.
5. To disturb or agitate (eg the surface of water).

Idiom: be asking for trouble

colloq
To behave in a way likely to bring problems or difficulties.

Idiom: in trouble

In difficulties, especially because of doing something wrong or illegal.

Idiom: look for trouble

To actively and aggressively seek out an argument or fight.

Idiom: take trouble (take the trouble)

To make an effort (to do something, especially to do it well).

Etymology: 13c: from French trubler, from Latin turbidus full of confusion, disturbed.