■ verb ( worries , ~ing , worried )
1》 feel or cause to feel troubled over actual or potential difficulties.
↘[as adjective worried ] expressing anxiety.
2》 annoy or disturb.
3》 (of a dog or other carnivorous animal) tear at or pull about with the teeth.
↘(of a dog) chase and attack (livestock, especially sheep).
4》 ( ~ at ) pull at or fiddle with repeatedly.
5》 ( ~ something out ) discover or devise a solution by persistent thought.
■ noun ( plural worries ) the state of being worried.
↘a source of anxiety.
Derivatives
worriedly adverb
worrier noun
~ing adjective
~ingly adverb
Word History
Worry comes from wyrgan , an Old English word of West Germanic origin, meaning 'strangle'. In Middle English it took on the meanings 'choke with a mouthful of food', 'seize by the throat and tear', and 'swallow greedily', and in the 16th century 'harass with repeated aggression'. This gave rise to 'annoy or disturb' in the late 17th century and 'cause anxiety to' in the early 19th century. The sense 'feel anxious or troubled' is not recorded until the end of the 19th century.