pains
an effortful attempt to attain a goal
How often you will meet it
Rank 2,840 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 5,823 times across 155,139 chapters — 0.003% of every word in the library.
What it means
noun
- an effortful attempt to attain a goal also: striving, nisus, strain
pains in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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Miss Howard, in particular, took no pains to conceal her feelings.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles · Agatha Christie · Chapter 1
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I took a sight of pains with him, and he'll sing beautiful before long.
The Palace Beautiful: A Story for Girls · L. T. Meade · Chapter 1
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That accounts for the fact that we all take such pains to over-educate ourselves.
The Picture of Dorian Gray · Oscar Wilde · Chapter 1
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Oh ceaseless pains that never may be told, You make me weep as I to water would!
Elizabethan Sonnet Cycles: Phillis - Licia · Martha Foote [Editor] Crow · Chapter 1
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This occasioned a great deal of pains and trouble to me, before I could make it firm and durable.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures · Daniel Defoe · Chapter 1