v. 1 annoy, pester, worry, irritate, trouble, hector, harass, hound, dog, nag, plague, needle, Colloq hassle; Slang US nudge I wish they'd stop bothering me about paying the telephone bill 2 trouble (about), fuss (at), make a fuss (about), concern oneself (with), burden Too few people are interested in bothering about the welfare of others 3 confuse, bewilder, perplex, perturb, upset, disconcert, discomfit She was increasingly bothered by her inability to understand the local language
n. 4 trouble, inconvenience Those pets must be a lot of bother 5 worry, annoyance, vexation, nuisance, irritation, trouble, effort, disturbance, upset, Slang hassle Painting the lattice will be more bother than it's worth 6 dither, flutter, Colloq tizzy, pet, stew, lather, sweat She seems to have worked herself into quite a bother about something quite insignificant 7 pest, irritant, nag, nuisance, Colloq pain, pain in the neck or Brit taboo arse or US taboo ass; Slang US nudge Mother is such a bother, always asking if I wear my galoshes when it rains 8 disturbance, to-do, ado, commotion, fuss, trouble, disorder, stir, hubbub We ran into a bit of bother at the pub last night