go to the trouble

Idioms

Also, take the trouble;. Make the effort or spend the money for something. For example, He went to the trouble of calling every single participant, or She took the trouble to iron all the clothes, or Don't go to the bother of writing them, or They went to the expense of hiring a limousine. [Second half of 1800s] Also see put oneself out.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Why go to the trouble of stealing it?

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026

Kind of a cringey comedic bit between Trevor Noah and Bad Bunny that I won’t go to the trouble of play-by-playing here.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 1, 2026

Why go to the trouble of leaving the house to find something to read when you can stare at the phone in your hand?

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 12, 2025

Rather than go to the trouble of building radio telescopes with single, massive dishes, it has become easier and more effective to set up arrays of smaller telescopes working in conjunction, he says.

From Scientific American • Oct. 20, 2022

What did ships have to do with lawn mowers, and why would he go to the trouble to write this sentence down and then carefully hide it underneath the seat?

From "Lawn Boy Returns" by Gary Paulsen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023