PROBLEM


Meaning of PROBLEM in English

noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a chest complaint/problem (= something wrong with your chest and causing you pain )

Older people often suffer from chest complaints.

a discipline problem (= a problem with the students' behaviour in a school )

Successful schools have fewer discipline problems.

a disposal problem

All cities have a waste disposal problem.

a drug problem (= the problem of being addicted to drugs )

His daughter has a drug problem.

a fundamental problem

Charity could not solve the fundamental problem of unemployment.

a health problem

He missed a lot of time at work through health problems.

a hearing problem/difficulty/impairment

a special telephone for people with hearing problems

a pollution problem

Environmentalists fear that the new factories will lead to severe pollution problems.

a potential problem

There is a potential problem with the new equipment.

a problem child (= very difficult to deal with )

Problem children may need to be removed from the classroom.

a serious problem

Vandalism is a serious problem in the area.

a weight problem (= a tendency to be too fat )

I've always had a weight problem.

added difficulty/problem etc

Our yard is only small, and has the added disadvantage of facing north.

It may not be necessary to go to the added expense of updating your anti-virus software.

address a problem/question/issue etc

Our products address the needs of real users.

age-old problem

the age-old problem of sexual discrimination

alcohol problems (= people who drink too much )

people with alcohol problems

alleviate the problem/situation/suffering etc

a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of flu

an image problem

Politicians have an image problem as far as many young people are concerned.

an underlying problem

Little is being done to correct the system's underlying problems.

an urgent problem

It’s an urgent problem, and needs tackling straight away.

anticipate problems/difficulties

We don’t anticipate any problems.

attendant problems/difficulties/dangers etc

nuclear power, with all its attendant risks

behaviour problems

She teaches children with behaviour problems.

big problem

AIDS remains a big problem in many parts of the world.

cash flow problems

The builder is unable to pay due to cash flow problems .

cause a problem

The heavy rain has been causing serious problems on the roads.

compound a problem/difficulty etc

Helmut’s problems were compounded by his lack of concentration.

confront...problems

We try to help people confront their problems .

cracked...problem

I think we’ve cracked the problem of the computer crashing all the time.

crux of the problem

The crux of the problem lay in the lack of equipment.

deal with a problem

Both countries are having to deal with the problem of violence in urban areas.

dental disease/problems/decay etc

discuss the problem

I suggested going out for a drink to discuss the problem.

domestic problems (= problems in the home and with family relationships )

I didn’t want to listen to any more of his domestic problems.

economic problems

The country’s continuing economic problems could lead to recession.

eliminate a need/possibility/risk/problem etc

The credit card eliminates the need for cash or cheques.

There is no solution that will totally eliminate the possibility of theft.

emotional problems

Ann suffered from depression and a number of other emotional problems .

encounter problems/difficulties

They encountered serious problems when two members of the expedition were injured.

environmental problems

Acid rain is one of the major environmental problems associated with burning coal.

ethical issues/questions/problems

The use of animals in scientific tests raises difficult ethical questions.

evade the problem

You’re simply trying to evade the problem .

experience problems/difficulties

Many old people will experience problems as the result of retirement.

eyesight problems

Her eyesight problems ruled out a job as a pilot.

face a problem

She told me about some of the problems she was facing.

financial difficulties/problems/crisis

get round...problem (= solve )

strategies to get round the problem

hamstring injury/problem/strain etc

heart trouble/problems

You should not take this medication if you have heart problems.

herein/therein lies the problem/dilemma etc

And herein lies the key to their achievements.

hit a snag/problems/a bad patch etc

My father hit a bad patch, he had to sell the house.

immediate problem

Let’s try and solve the most immediate problem .

injury problems BrE:

He suffered injury problems throughout his career as a footballer.

long-standing problem

the long-standing problem of keeping costs down

math problems (= questions that are related to math )

a set of simple math problems

morale problems (= when the morale of a group is low )

A lack of information can cause morale problems.

perennial problem

Lack of resources has been a perennial problem since the beginning.

personal problems

Counselors can give assistance to students with personal problems.

pose a problem

A flood of refugees could pose a serious problem for neighbouring countries.

practical problems/difficulties

The local Social Services Department may be able to help with practical problems.

present a problem

These mountain roads present problems even to experienced drivers.

pressing problem/matter/need etc

Poverty is a more pressing problem than pollution.

problem page

psychological problem

Sleep disorders are a serious psychological problem .

resolve a problem/crisis/situation

Action is being taken to resolve the problem.

run into trouble/problems/difficulties

The business ran into financial difficulties almost immediately.

sb has an attitude problem (= someone is not helpful or pleasant to be with )

Some of the male students have a real attitude problem.

severe problems/difficulties

The clothing industry has experienced severe problems in recent years.

solve a problem

He solved the problem by moving the aggressive fish to a separate tank.

sort out...problems

She went to a psychiatrist to try to sort out her problems .

suffer a problem

Research shows that children of alcoholic parents are more likely to suffer problems in adulthood.

tackle a problem/issue/question

The government has failed to tackle the problem of youth crime.

the problem (= find out the cause of a problem )

A competent mechanic should be able to get to the root of the problem .

the problem/answer etc lies with/in sth

The difficulty lies in providing sufficient evidence.

trivial problem/matter/complaint etc

We were punished for the most trivial offences.

turn the matter/problem/responsibility etc over to sb

I’m turning the project over to you.

unforeseen problems/difficulties/delays

unforeseen delays in supplying the equipment

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

big

Power supply is a big problem today, since battery technology has not progressed at the same rate as other information technologies.

But the biggest problem was the stealing.

Trading Death A big problem Drugs are never cheap.

Our biggest problem was finding somebody willing to move in.

They can also cause big problems for coastal fisheries, aquaculture operations and the tourist industry.

Since many exist on the margins of their environments, small changes may create big problems for them.

The bigger problem for me at the time was the way the orchestra was playing.

The biggest problem with liberalism is that you have to fly all the way to San Francisco to find it.

economic

The governments in Tunis, Algiers and Rabat fear that new frustrations will inflame their countries' economic problems .

They expressed concerns that decreased military spending can become an economic problem in regions that depend on the armed forces for jobs.

He blamed what he called the painful kick-back of recent economic problems for the latest spate of job losses.

Only an egomaniac would propose a Napoleonic construction effort as a plan for a city with fundamental social and economic problems .

The Wilson government inherited serious economic problems in October 1964, but made matters worse by its own decisions.

The widespread collapse into an enervated self can not be attributed solely to the economic and social problems of our day.

The economic problems , the exhaustion brought by war, and divisions between the political parties all caused difficulties for de Gaulle.

Despite the economic problems and some unrelated political problems of the 1960s, the country remained a relatively prosperous one.

emotional

But she gave herself up to police and told them her real motive was to win attention for emotional problems .

The sixth and oldest, a 9-year-old boy, currently is in specialized foster care because of emotional problems .

But social service officials have warned that even if this latest rescue mission is successful the children could face long-term emotional problems .

After all, there is so much talk about emotional problems and abnormality that many people wonder if they need help.

They found that more than six out of 10 children with emotional and behavioural problems were regular smokers.

Therapy based on these questions can be wonderful and effective for help with a wide variety of emotional or cognitive problems .

It also provides a counselling service and a range of literature with advice on emotional as well as practical problems .

The organization has a less productive worker and the employee gets to wrestle with a series of physical and emotional problems .

financial

Ian Boddy, for Wennington, said she had serious financial and marriage problems .

During 1995, the Amex lost 28 companies to competing exchanges and delisted another 38 companies for financial and other problems .

And, of course, he always got some one else to pay for everything anyway, so it wasn't any financial problem .

Q: When you took over the team in May 1994, the then-owners were going through serious financial problems .

But more financial problems meant only a handful were ever built.

Reportedly, EconoPage had financial problems from its inception in 1994.

The gist of the auditors' criticism is that this is primarily a financial reporting problem rather than an auditing one.

In fact, financial problems may not be uppermost in her mind.

immediate

The immediate problem , however, lies in implementing such a system.

I had a more immediate problem .

The fellowship at Caius took care of my immediate employment problem .

Water, the most obvious and important resource, was not an immediate problem .

The immediate problem for parents is what to tell them.

He seems to be suggesting the endowment as a quick solution to an immediate problem , but he knows better.

This is not an immediate problem in the hectic process of establishing the great new structure.

His own attention was increasingly diverted to the more immediate problems of holding down prices and wages.

main

The main problem is coping with the aggression.

We can now deal with the main problems that could arise in the new community care system.

The main problem is how to be your own critic.

Or they can decide that the main problem is that relative poverty got no better during the prosperous 1980s.

The main problem with Cape Verde is that it hardly ever rains.

The main problem was how to interest the media.

This pinpointed the main problem ara - non-asbestos work resulting in damage to asbestos-containing insulation material.

The main problem about drawing up a will is that it means accepting the inevitability of death.

major

Although traditional remedial education is undergoing radical reform, major problems remain.

This was spotty and not a major problem .

Mr Kirwan said the three slip-ways at Redcar beach were the major problem .

Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., has said the tactic is a major problem on college campuses.

The only major problem at this year's final results from the traditional fine weather in southern California.

Nor has he been sharing with all board members the monthly reports he receives outlining the major budget problems Pima County faces.

More than 40 competitors blanked and iced rod rigs were a major problem .

This causes major problems in growth and development.

mental

Their attitude to people with mental health problems or drug problems are similarly positive.

To what extent is work inhibition a consequence of mental health problems ?

I had never met anyone with mental problems .

Jurors in the case of Dalton Prejean were unaware of his long-term mental problems when sentencing him to death.

I have had two experiences in which the mental health problems of older people have been successfully treated by a homeopath.

Russell Keys was, by all accounts, a clever, amusing man with manageable mental problems .

Police said the 20-year-old had a history of mental problems .

Surely we can do better for people with mental problems and their families?

only

My only problem so far has been keeping track of who, exactly, in the Archives quotations is saying what.

But it appears that pricing is not the only problem affecting investors in the Dumenil group.

The only problem with Snotties is that they take casualties fairly quickly.

The only problem was convincing them they couldn't follow up with a New Year's knees-up a week later.

Carrie's only problem was the other woman who worked in the dining rooms.

The only problem you're likely to encounter is jerkiness of movement as the nodes grow too far apart.

In fact, the zips are really the only problem area.

particular

Working in prisons, with the need for round-the-clock supervision poses particular problems for women who also carry traditional domestic responsibilities.

Three particular problems call for comment, however.

My particular problems were probably simply not noticed; so nobody talked about them.

This particular problem is of no real mathematical interest.

The student will learn more effectively through identifying the particular needs and problems of each patient.

Every now and then nature conspires to rivet homeowners' attention on a particular maintenance problem .

Sometimes we may be able to identify a particular stress or problem which may be affecting us in our inability to sleep.

The relative merits of both approaches have to be considered when opting for a solution to a particular diagnostic problem .

personal

The filming was bedevilled by her personal problems , her sleeping problems, her lateness on the set, her acting problems.

Outspoken and energetic, Stynes now arranges counselling for workers with personal problems , especially drug and alcohol abuse.

James Baker said that he had always believed that a professional should never admit to hurt or personal problems .

They have personal problems because they do not have the cash flow.

Furious host officials last night accused Charles and Diana of putting their personal problems before their sense of duty.

Anybody on the venire have any personal problem with these two?

It is difficult to understand how personal problems can be resolved by refusing to talk about them.

The discussions in the group sessions were primarily devoted to living a life free of alcohol and coping with personal problems .

potential

Another potential problem for Marlow is how the public reacts to the idea of Quorn.

The evaluation should begin by considering the history and hospital course in light of the potential acid-base problems .

The MoD told us the organisers were aware of potential problems when they moved to Wroughton three years ago.

The Committee believes that these adequately address any potential problem which might arise with respect to this area.

We did not find it feasible, however, because of potential ethical problems , to collect bile from such a patient group.

Clinton does face a potential problem from the financing of his campaign last year.

When surgery is planned there is time to correct existing problems and reduce the risk of potential problems.

I sense a potential marketing problem here.

practical

Many theoretical and practical problems remain to be studied and this research project will tackle some of them.

Is there a serious practical problem that Congress needs to address?

But county hall staff say there are practical problems which prevent them from laying speed monitoring cables.

One practical problem with the drug is that it is relatively expensive compared with phenytoin or phenobarbital.

This included some fruitful experiments at secondary level in applying scientific knowledge to practical problems .

To me this is a practical problem .

There are practical problems with the installation as well.

There were all sorts of practical problems which Nigel Barnes, the drama teacher faced.

real

It's in the middle where their real problems lie.

Pardon us if we yawn, Chuck, but that hardly addresses the real problem .

But neither the car nor the team was the real problem .

They learned by facing real problems and real consequences.

Identical spellings for words that sound the same are not a real problem .

This real clinical problem presents a therapeutic dilemma.

The for-profits and the government agencies have both been real problems for us.

serious

These are serious problems , which need to be addressed carefully.

As Hoffman indicated, Macintosh in its nascent form had some serious problems .

Guaranteeing continuity in the casework of clients is a serious problem for a manager with a large team of volunteers.

High levels of coliform bacteria may indicate more serious problems in a water supply, such as the infiltration of fecal material.

However, there are still serious problems .

Why, in the absence of almost any other serious problems , did he have such difficulty in completing schoolwork?

As more and more land was planted with cash crops, the lack of pasture became a serious problem in many districts.

social

However, unelected, time limited, hierarchical agencies have played an important role in central government initiatives to solve social problems .

The misinterpretation of behavior as pathology also results quite often from the labeling of social problems as individual psychological problems.

Amongst other things, the sociologist is interested in how and why some things come to be seen as social problems .

Women, then, had more social problems , particularly connected with familial responsibilities.

The aetiology of social problems and the function of social work.

The social problem is the apparent occasion for the poem, and some people feel that it is an intrusion.

One in three men and one in seven women who try to kill themselves also have physical and social alcohol-related problems .

We acknowledge that the country has a number of social problems .

technical

The manufacture of the books that fill the movable shelves was often fraught with technical problems .

In short, given the existing state of backwardness, underdevelopment is not primarily a scientific, technical or organizational problem .

This is a true mega-project which has faced gigantic technical problems .

But then it describes technical problems with both and offers little further guidance.

Design implies change and improvement, solving technical problems and meeting new needs.

He had friends there and he saw many interesting technical problems still to be solved.

In reality there can be practical and technical problems which can make it difficult and sometimes impossible.

Earlier today, a minor technical problem occurred.

■ NOUN

area

If you stoop or are round-shouldered these shoulder movements will help to rectify this problem area for you.

Her advice begins with an inventory of belongings, surroundings, problem areas and priorities.

You can also conduct profit forecasts, identify profitable work and problem areas .

In this case, treat the write-up as yet another learning experience informing you of strong and problem areas .

The identified problem areas for companies were lubrication, wear, condition monitoring, bearings, gears and seals.

Once you start to think about underprepared students in terms of these overlapping problem areas , all sorts of solutions present themselves.

It works by analysing your present financial position and identifying any problem areas or gaps.

The writer should assume that the reviewer though probably a sophisticated person, is not very well informed in the problem area .

health

It is free of charge and can help to detect early signs of health problems and prevent them developing.

The men in our study who had the fewest worries about their relationships with their children also had the fewest health problems .

Off the field there were health problems and tensions with teammates.

The study predicts the biggest health problems of the next 25 years to be those chronic conditions which largely affect the elderly.

He claims Southern Water failed in its duty to prevent health problems caused by piping sewage into the sea.

A consensus has long existed to make health insurance portable and to assure some coverage for people with existing health problems .

It will provide the best facilities in the area for people suffering from mental health problems .

Surveillance of health problems may be brief and intermittent. 3.

■ VERB

address

Recent reports by a number of organisations have urged companies to address this problem seriously.

The Committee believes that these adequately address any potential problem which might arise with respect to this area.

The new government is trying to address this problem .

But despite all this evidence, most organizations have yet to address the problem in any comprehensive or organized way.

Begin by addressing yourself to the problem .

Carville, Dionne and Weisberg all address this problem as best they can.

But in their prepared homilies the Pope and the Archbishop addressed quite different problems .

How can he properly address the problems without hearing the coaches' side?

arise

Fault Finding Here is a fault-finding guide to help locate any problems that might arise when producing boards with the ultra-violet technique.

Supervisors took a back scat and would let the teams try to handle the problems as they arose .

But once again microeconomic problems arise since there are two parties to the contract of employment.

Human intervention is required again and again, and intervention is needed at the level where these problems are arising .

It is at the margin the problem arises .

The problems arise quickly, though, when the cast are, as so often, essentially stereotypes.

The following case provides a very good illustration of the legal problems arising from allegations of fraud.

However, problems arise when the author describes how to actually use the gear.

cause

I thought Honved might cause them a few problems once they had equalised.

But that could cause other environmental problems .

The main disadvantage is that political or economic instability within the country may cause problems outside the control of the parent company.

Sometimes doing that causes nasty structural problems , like a caved-in cake.

It is mistake which causes problems .

But the newfound speed has caused other problems .

When pilots or mechanics went on strike they could cause devastating problems , but flight attendants were still seen as replaceable parts.

compound

To compound the problem , drizzle and low cloud was firmly entrenched in the area.

But this time the results have only compounded and exacerbated the problems of the Republican Party.

What is more, the remedy advised is likely to compound the problem .

But in this case, the director of field operations, abetted by other headquarters personnel, compounded the problem .

Prisoners' confinement and lack of contact with the outside world compound their problems .

You risk hugely compounding the problem by getting caught in half-truths.

Land fragmentation, as a result of inheritance laws and social custom, compounds the widespread problem of small farm size.

To compound the problem , a drop in battery power corrupted the software programme which controlled the radio itself.

create

A grandparent who tries to counteract parents' own methods by being over-indulgent or strict will only create further problems .

Since many exist on the margins of their environments, small changes may create big problems for them.

It can create problems over the ownership and control of the business.

What Kaufman was saying is that we had helped create the problem .

However, Nuttall has shown that this creates considerable problems for the interpretation of results in relation to, for example, class size.

But, like Buchanan, Sweeney creates problems as well as opportunities for his party.

For instance, it can create a problem if the team moves.

deal

Throughout the year, the education officer will deal with any student problems which arise and help to find teachers for colleges.

Thus, a major managerial responsibility was dealing with the problem employee.

We shall only succeed in dealing with the problems through a vast international cooperative effort.

These procedural changes deal with specific problems discussed above in Chapters 1 and 2.

Good proposal writing is a delicate balance of presenting your intentions in dealing with your research problem .

Organisations dealing with problems like Julie's say the chances of getting the children back are slim.

Some resource will also be needed to deal with technical problems and enquiries from sales and commercial departments.

discuss

If there is a speech therapist treating the client with whom one can discuss the problem , that can be very helpful.

Then we discuss some political problems including political business cycles.

If we don't discuss these problems we won't get anywhere and nothing will be done.

I replied that Bobbie was doing fine and that I wanted to discuss problems with two other patients.

They are told about aids which can assist them and given time to discuss special problems .

She discussed her problem with him.

The tutorial provides the opportunity to develop themes or discuss problems usually on the basis of written work.

As discussed earlier, the problem comes in defining the assets of a marital partnership.

encounter

Gilligan's work encounters similar problems .

If we define it as statistically likely, we encounter the problems discussed earlier with an infrequency model.

When he did encounter problems , remedies were easily to hand.

Surgeons who performed reconstructive surgery encountered many problems similar to those faced by their medical colleagues.

However, the company is not sympathetic to climbing, and should you encounter access problems contact me immediately.

The colonists encountered the problem with runaway slaves.

That is, rather than correcting their errors, I model the strategies readers use when they encounter these problems .

experience

The nursery tells it has experienced no problems at all, except that the composts are a bit more expensive.

Frustrated customers who are experiencing the same problems have filed several class-action lawsuits.

Again within each type of disability the majority of those who experience the problem reside in the community.

Persians, with their pushed-in faces, can experience problems breathing.

Humans experience few of these problems when reading.

Ripken began to experience problems with his back in July.

Having also personally experienced the problems at Southwark Offset, I realise how daunting the prospect of trying again must have been.

It also has experienced some billing problems .

face

Liz was asked to imagine how she would respond if she was faced with the same problems again.

Sybase is not the only technology company facing problems .

The physically handicapped youngster faces severe problems in finding employment.

Clinton does face a potential problem from the financing of his campaign last year.

Both countries will face severe problems increasing their oil output.

Long-lived trees face a particular problem because their parasites have time to adapt to their genetic defenses-to evolve.

I face the same problems as a structural engineer.

Hughes was the second prominent researcher at Georgetown to face problems because of reproductive research.

fix

It took me two days to fix all the problems with that coach.

Lei Feng is under a truck fixing a mechanical problem .

The problem-solving sessions began to generate ideas for fixing problems such as water leaks and glass breakage.

It is designed to enable system administrators to identify and fix problems before they come to most users' attention.

Navy officials say they are fixing the manning problems but expect the shortages of skilled sailors to continue until sometime in 1999.

If they know everything about a job then they may well be able to fix the problems for you.

Some also fear that efforts to fix the problem will just create more troublesome models.

overcome

To overcome this problem many policy papers which examine population ageing produce a variety of projections using different fertility assumptions.

The very struggle to overcome the new problems can have a salutary welding effect on the new church.

But they insisted Charles and Diana were attempting to overcome their problems .

Fortunately: If you write at least three times a week, you should overcome each problem in less than a month.

She came to see me, and after two sessions, was able to overcome the problem .

She has worked so hard to overcome her hip problem .

However, this does not in itself overcome the language problems which have arisen during the period of isolation.

One of the biggest steps toward overcoming a problem is identifying it.

pose

Working in prisons, with the need for round-the-clock supervision poses particular problems for women who also carry traditional domestic responsibilities.

And for many gay men, that posed a problem almost as threatening as the epidemic itself.

It may pose many more problems than you had anticipated.

Buchanan poses less of a problem for Dole.

How to convey the battle scene posed a problem .

And the fact that both doctors were insured by the same company must have posed a serious problem for the company.

The point that capitalist planning is increasingly conducted on an international scale poses problems for the socialist project.

The discrepancies between these different analyses pose a number of problems .

present

Many other problems may be presented , for example problems related to preparing the patient for safe discharge to the community.

For many countries where free speech is alien, the Internet presents interesting problems and policy issues.

The preservation of information captured in machine-readable form undoubtedly presents a host of problems to traditional archives.

Both relatively objective and relatively subjective criteria present other problems .

Doors that swing inwards present the problem of curtain fabric interfering with the operation of the doors.

The banking system and mail service can present problems for newcomers.

This is a very straight forward part and shouldn't present any problems .

This presents a major problem for women: the reduced number of available men compared to women over sixty-five years of age.

resolve

Before he resolves a problem , he keeps an open mind on how that problem might be resolved.

Clinton wants a bipartisan commission to resolve the problem .

He resolved the problem by adopting the role of lookout, warning the men when strangers, particularly police, were approaching.

The very stiffness of the penalty should resolve the problem .

The separation also resolves the problem of remorse when we tax ourselves about an unphilosophical action we may have taken.

Others come asking him to resolve a problem .

He said suing the building society would only delay matters and make resolving the problem more costly.

The moral way to resolve the problem is to keep people from entering rather than punishing their children once they are here.

solve

We solved the problems for manufacturing, and we also found some cost savings that we could pass along to our customers.

However, unelected, time limited, hierarchical agencies have played an important role in central government initiatives to solve social problems .

We use our intellects not to solve practical problems but to outwit each other.

Some of these experiments were designed to solve a specific medical problem .

How would you try to solve the problem ?

What remains is to solve the problem of restoring the corners of the cube to their rightful positions.

His interest was in solving the problem of how to make it.

tackle

The first black adoption agency, New Black Families, began to tackle the problem in 1980.

Spurred by the profit motive, the shops tackled problems with a vengeance.

When you actually tackle the problem case it will not be as bad as you had thought.

Part of the sport of tackling the longitude problem entailed ridiculing others in the competition.

You can tackle the simpler problems yourself.

In tackling these problems , we experimented.

We will tackle this problem with vigour.

And the best way to tackle that problem is not on the loch itself, but in the centre of town.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

Houston, we have a problem

a chicken and egg situation/problem etc

It's a chicken and egg situation really.

a thorny question/problem/issue etc

In addition, sending encrypted data over international boundaries represents a thorny issue: it is still illegal in some countries.

Melding the top managements also would be a thorny issue.

None of these struck me as particularly penetrating answers to a thorny problem.

be up to your ears in work/debt/problems etc

fraught with problems/difficulties/danger etc

Attractive as that proposition has seemed in recent years, the form in which it has been pursued is fraught with difficulties.

For this whole business of killing, whether killing beasts or killing men, is supposed to be fraught with danger.

He realized that what he was about to attempt was fraught with dangers, for Bernice and for himself.

However, it is a move fraught with problems as our writers explain How long can it be taken as read?

She had had a husband and lovers older than herself, and each affair had been fraught with problems.

There are a number of tortured perspectives on how to get round this problem, but they are themselves fraught with problems.

Thompson and Geir can agree, but their own deliverance was fraught with danger.

meet a problem/challenge

Are both boys and girls shown developing independent lives, independently meeting challenges, and finding their own solutions?

Capable of successfully and creatively meeting challenges. salary / benefits: Excellent salary and benefits package.

Ideally, pre-marital counselling, supplemented before parenthood, would meet problems before they could arise.

These patterns evolve over time, as an organization attempts to meet challenge after challenge in the best way it knows how.

no end of trouble/problems etc

My doctor's a nice young man, takes no end of trouble.

Neighbours say a new flats development in Sun Street, Darlington, has created no end of problems.

They'd caused no end of problems for the nomes.

offload your worries/emotions/problems etc

It would be nice to have been able to offload your worries on to some one or something like that.

sidestep a problem/issue/question

But she sidesteps a question about her priorities in a time of limited funding.

store up trouble/problems etc

Mahmud may have bought time for himself, but he stored up trouble for his successors.

technical problem/hitch

At times it appears large numbers of these new or infrequent voters were confounded by technical problems in the ballot.

Design implies change and improvement, solving technical problems and meeting new needs.

He had also to tackle the technical problems of bringing two curriculum systems into one entity.

However, some technical problems exist.

In other words, it is to argue that the problem is a technical problem which admits of a technical solution.

It is open to any interested individual and meets regularly to discuss operational and near-term technical problems of the Internet.

Politics becomes an issue of solving the technical problems of advancing capitalism rather than the realization of practical goals.

The principal technical problems which had to be resolved were breakage due to heavy-duty service and abuse.

the larger issues/question/problem/picture

But the larger picture is systematically distorted by the military and political calculations concerning the strategic uses of information and disinformation.

Here we are concerned with the larger problem of the relationship between men as a class and other animals as a class.

It has come to have a bearing on the larger questions of civilized survival.

Mission-driven budgets relieve legislators of micromanagement decisions, freeing them to focus on the larger problems they were elected to solve.

She was blind to the larger picture that involves building and maintaining good relationships with both fellow-workers and superiors.

That ignorance is at the root of geophysicists' struggle with the larger problem of how the whole earth works.

Too much, and the larger picture might become apparent.

You failed to connect the various elements together or to move through the detail to the larger issues of the painting.

the least of sb's worries/problems/troubles/concerns

For not the least of Henry's problems was how to raise the money required for the accomplishment of such an undertaking.

Greatly increased taxes and a major shift back to defence expenditure could be the least of our worries.

Not the least of its problems was extreme alienation between labor and management.

That was the least of her troubles.

The death under somewhat dubious circumstances of a racehorse belonging to his son was frankly the least of his problems.

the nub of the problem/matter/argument etc

Even so, some brain cells were still working, as I stared inwardly at the nub of the problem.

It sounds perfectly reasonable, but you will perceive that here is the nub of the matter.

This is the nub of the matter.

This, however, was the nub of the problem.

the only thing/problem is ...

But the only thing is they are really small.

I did some um and the only problem is size.

In fact the only problem is deciding where to start.

It duplicates perfectly in production, so the only problem is making the first copy.

Well, no problem with the casting, the only problem is remembering the plot.

underlying cause/principle/problem etc

vexed question/issue/problem etc

A paradigm example of this is the vexed question of spatial visualisation.

And there is another vexed question.

I shall not turn to the vexed question of the national minimum wage.

Potentially an even bigger bombshell is about to burst on the vexed question of pension rights.

The vexed question has always been: Who should write the programs which control these machines?

Then there is the vexed issue of paying for tax cuts.

Until recently what was on the child's school record and whether parent or child could see it was a vexed question.

Was the vexed question of extradition discussed at the Council?

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

Bill isn't sleeping well - I think he's having problems at school.

Engineers were unable to find the source of the problem in the spacecraft's cooling system.

Federal laws have almost no effect on the crime problem that concerns most people - crime on the streets.

If you have any problems, give me a call.

Our biggest problem is lack of money.

Please call 5326 if you have any computer problems.

Scientists still have not solved the problem of what to do with nuclear waste.

She's had a lot of personal problems - her mother died when she was eight.

Sue's had a lot of problems with her neighbours recently.

Tannen retired early due to health problems.

The problem of substance abuse in high school is widespread.

The first section of the test will contain twenty algebra problems.

The new traffic system is causing problems for everyone.

There seems to be some kind of problem with the heaters.

Whiteflies can be a serious problem that affects produce grown in California and other states.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

In spite of this we do need to make an effort to define the problem .

The only problem is that this runs counter to trends in the labor market.

This is a problem in making an ordered sequence with respect to time from different fragments or partial records.

Three would involve complex skeletal and muscular problems tending to impede rather than improve mobility.

We are taken to a place where characters have nice little problems and impressive muscle tone.

We have our problems and our frustrations.

We try to move at the parents pace and, where necessary, show them one problem at a time.

Where motor vehicles are concerned, the problems are different.

Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary.      Дополнительный английский словарь Longman DOCE5.