pains
Britishplural noun
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care, trouble, or effort (esp in the phrases take pains, be at pains to )
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painful sensations experienced during contractions in childbirth; labour pains
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.
It’s telling that while Mr. Deakins takes pains to praise his longtime gaffer, key grip, dolly grip, best boy and more, he never bothers to define those roles for the lay reader.
Iraq's legacy is most obvious in the way that leaders in Washington have been at pains to stress the differences between it and the current conflict.
From BBC
But the Swedish company was at pains to point out that payments don't just benefit the top one per cent, saying that "roughly half of royalties were generated by independent artists and labels".
From BBC
Steve, what was important for you to show about this relationship between a father and an adult daughter with both of them still going through growing pains?
From Los Angeles Times
The Cypriot government has been at pains to stress that it's a UK base, not Cyprus, that was targeted by a drone and that Cyprus has no involvement in the ongoing conflict.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.