I. has ‧ sle 1 /ˈhæs ə l/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: Perhaps from haggle + tussle ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] spoken something that is annoying, because it causes problems or is difficult to do:
I don’t feel like cooking tonight, it’s too much hassle.
It’s such a hassle not having a washing machine.
2 . [countable] American English informal an argument between two people or groups:
hassles with the management
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ a real hassle (=used to emphasize that something is very annoying or causes a lot of problems)
Carrying a heavy bag around all day is a real hassle.
▪ a big hassle
I find putting on make-up a big hassle.
▪ legal/bureaucratic/administrative hassle
It took weeks of bureaucratic hassle to get a replacement passport.
■ verbs
▪ get hassle (=be made to experience problems)
Liz is getting a lot of hassle about the claim from her insurance company.
▪ have hassle (=experience problems)
If we book now, we won’t have the hassle of picking up the tickets at the box office.
▪ give somebody hassle (=make someone experience problems)
Did the teacher give you any hassle about that homework?
▪ avoid hassle
Many couples get married abroad to avoid the hassle and cost of a big wedding.
■ phrases
▪ it’s not worth the hassle (=something is not worth doing because it involves a lot of problems)
I’m not going to argue with him – it’s just not worth the hassle.
▪ take the hassle out of something (=remove the problems related to doing something)
The internet takes all the hassle out of shopping.
▪ go through the hassle of doing something (=experience the problems of doing something)
The shirt didn’t fit so I had to go through the hassle of taking it back to the shop.
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THESAURUS
▪ setback a problem that stops you from making progress:
The space program suffered a major setback when the space shuttle, Discovery, exploded.
▪ snag informal a problem, especially one that you had not expected:
There’s a snag – I don’t have his number.
▪ hitch a small problem that delays or prevents something:
There have been a few last-minute hitches.
▪ trouble when something does not work in the way it should:
The plane developed engine trouble.
▪ hassle spoken a situation that is annoying because it causes problems:
Just trying to store all this stuff is a hassle.
II. hassle 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle hassled , present participle hassling ) [transitive] informal
to annoy someone, especially by asking them many times to do something:
Stop hassling me! I said I’ll call them tomorrow.