worry: Meaning and Definition of

wor•ry

Pronunciation: (wûr'ē, wur'ē), [key]
— v., n., pl. -ried, -ry•ing, -ries.
—v.i.
  1. to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.
  2. to move with effort: an old car worrying uphill.
—v.t.
  1. to torment with cares, anxieties, etc.; trouble; plague.
  2. to seize, esp. by the throat, with the teeth and shake or mangle, as one animal does another.
  3. to harass by repeated biting, snapping, etc.
  4. to progress or succeed by constant effort, despite difficulty: to worry through an intolerable situation.
—n.
  1. a worried condition or feeling; uneasiness or anxiety.
  2. a cause of uneasiness or anxiety; trouble.
  3. act of worrying.
  4. the action of the hounds in tearing to pieces the carcass of a fox.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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