noun
1 physical pain
ADJECTIVE
▪ acute , agonizing , awful , blinding , excruciating , extreme , great , immense , intense , severe , terrible , unbearable , unimaginable
▪ aching , burning , cramping , numbing , piercing , searing , sharp , shooting , stabbing , stinging , throbbing
▪
She had a burning ~ in one eye.
▪ dull , little , mild , slight
▪ debilitating
▪ chronic , constant , nagging , persistent
▪ sudden
▪ intermittent
▪ recurrent
▪ bodily , physical
▪ abdominal , back , chest , joint , leg , muscle , pelvic , shoulder , stomach
▪
She's been in bed with back ~.
▪
He went to the doctor with chest ~s.
▪ menstrual , period ( esp. BrE )
▪ arthritis
▪ labor pain ( AmE ), labour/labor pains ( BrE , AmE )
▪ growing ~s
▪ phantom
▪
the phantom ~ of a lost limb
… OF PAIN
▪ spasm , stab
VERB + PAIN
▪ be in , be racked with , experience , feel , get , go through , have , suffer , suffer from
▪
He was obviously in a great deal of ~.
▪
Can you feel any ~?
▪
Marathon runners are used to going through ~.
▪
He was taken to the hospital suffering from severe abdominal ~.
▪ cause , give sb , inflict
▪
His back gives him a lot of ~.
▪
It's wrong to inflict ~ on any animal.
▪ aggravate , exacerbate , increase , make worse
▪ alleviate , block out , deaden , dull , ease , help , kill , lessen , numb , reduce , relieve , soothe , stop
▪
These pills should ease the ~.
▪ control , manage
▪
The treatments helped manage his ~.
▪ minimize
▪ treat
▪
Doctors used to treat back ~ with rest.
▪ bear , endure , put up with , stand , take , withstand
▪ ignore
▪ cry out in , cry with , groan with , scream with
▪ be contorted with , contort in
▪
His face was contorted with ~ as he crossed the finish line.
PAIN + VERB
▪ begin , come , occur , start
▪
The ~s began shortly after she started work as a gardener.
▪ erupt , flare , flare up
▪ hit sb/sth , strike sb/sth
▪
A sharp ~ hit the middle of my chest and I collapsed.
▪ course through sb/sth , flash through sth , flood sth , lance through sb/sth ( literary , esp. AmE ), radiate from sth to sth , rip through sb/sth , rush through sb/sth , rush up sb/sth , sear through sb/sth , shoot through sth , shoot up sth , stab sb/sth , surge through sb/sth , sweep over sb/sth , sweep through sb/sth , tear through sb/sth , throb , wash over sb
▪
A sharp ~ shot up his leg.
▪ overwhelm sb , wrack sb/sth
▪
Pain wracked her frail body once more.
▪ grow stronger , increase , intensify , worsen
▪ disappear , ease , fade , go , recede , stop , subside
▪
Has the ~ gone yet?
▪ persist
▪
If the ~ persists, see your doctor.
▪ come back , return
PAIN + NOUN
▪ control , management , relief
▪ killer (usually painkiller ) , medication , medicine , pill ( esp. AmE ), reliever
▪ sufferer
▪ symptoms
▪ specialist
▪ clinic
▪ threshold , tolerance
▪ level
▪ intensity , severity
▪ sensation
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ in
▪
a ~ in her side
PHRASES
▪ aches and ~s
▪
Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and ~s.
▪ a cry of ~
▪ a threshold for ~ ( esp. AmE ), a threshold of ~
▪
I have a very low threshold for ~.
2 unhappiness
ADJECTIVE
▪ great , immense , intense , terrible
▪ numbing
▪ indescribable , unspeakable
▪ emotional
VERB + PAIN
▪ cause (sb) , give sb , inflict
▪
Through her drug addiction she had inflicted a lot of ~ on the family.
▪ feel , go through
▪ know
▪
She knew the ~ of separation.
▪ get over
▪
It took him several years to get over the ~ of losing his job.
▪ dull , ease , lessen , numb
▪ heal
▪
Nothing could heal the ~ of her son's death.
▪ spare sb
▪
We hoped to spare her the ~ of having to meet her attacker.
▪ express
▪ share
▪
It was lovely to have someone there to share both the ~ and the joy.
▪ conceal , hide , mask
▪
He tried to conceal his ~ from her.
▪ forget
▪
For a few moments she forgot the ~ he had caused her.
▪ bear , endure , withstand
▪ relive
▪
I don't want to relive the ~ of losing her.
▪ sense
▪
I could sense her ~ and put my arm around her.
▪ prolong
PHRASES
▪ the ~ etched on sb's face
▪
Ellen saw the ~ etched on his face when he mentioned his ex-wife's name.