Word History:
Worrying may shorten one's life, but not as quickly
as it once did. The ancestor of our word, Old English wyrgan,
meant “to strangle.” Its Middle English descendant, worien,
kept this sense and developed the new sense “to grasp by the throat
with the teeth and lacerate” or “to kill or injure by biting and
shaking.” This is the way wolves or dogs might attack sheep, for
example. In the 16th century worry began to be used in the
sense “to harass, as by rough treatment or attack,” or “to assault
verbally,” and in the 17th century the word took on the sense “to
bother, distress, or persecute.” It was a small step from this sense
to the main modern senses “to cause to feel anxious or distressed”
and “to feel troubled or uneasy,” first recorded in the 19th
century.worry
n 1: something or someone that
causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness; "New York traffic is a
constant concern"; "it's a major worry" [syn:
concern,
headache,
vexation] 2: a strong feeling of anxiety; "his worry over the
prospect of being fired"; "it is not work but worry that kills"; "he
wanted to die and end his troubles" [syn:
trouble] v 1: be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or
uneasy; "I worry about my job" 2: be concerned with; "I worry about
my grades" [syn:
care] 3: disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental
agitation or distress; "I cannot sleep--my daughter's health is
worrying me" [syn:
vex] [ant:
reassure] 4: be on the mind of; "I worry about the second
Germanic consonant" [syn:
concern,
interest,
occupy] 5: lacerate by biting; "the dog worried his bone" 6:
touch or rub constantly; "The old man worried his beads"
wor·ry
[
wúree ]
verb (past wor·ried,
past participle wor·ried,
present participle wor·ry·ing,
3rd person present singular wor·ries)
1. transitive
and intransitive verb be or make anxious: to
feel anxious or to cause another person to feel anxious about
something unpleasant that may have happened or may happen
2. transitive
verb annoy another: to
annoy another person by making insistent demands or complaints
3. transitive
verb try to bite animal: to
try to wound or kill an animal by biting it
a
dog suspected of worrying sheep
4. transitive
verb See
worry at v.
5. intransitive
verb proceed despite problems: to
proceed persistently despite problems or obstacles
worried
the project along despite continued delays
6. transitive
verb touch something repeatedly: to
touch, move, or interfere with something repeatedly
Stop
worrying that button or it’ll come off.
noun
(plural wor·ries)
1. anxiousness: a
feeling of anxiety or concern
2. cause
of anxiety: something that
causes anxiety or concern
3. period
of anxiety: a period spent
feeling anxious or concerned
[Old English wyrgan .
Originally in the sense “to strangle.” Its modern meaning developed
perhaps via the idea of dogs or wolves harrassing their prey by
seizing it by the throat.]
|
wor·ried adjective |
|
wor·ried·ly adverb |
|
wor·ried·ness noun |
|
wor·ri·er noun |
|
wor·ry·ing adjective |
|
wor·ry·ing·ly adverb |
Not
to worry used to tell somebody that
something is not important and need not be a cause of concern
Not
to worry. We’ll do better next time
Worry
Quotes
"A day of worry is more exhausting
than a day of work. - John Lubbock
ri·er
n. 