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COMPLAINT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(criminal law) a pleading describing some wrong or offense
Example:
he was arrested on a charge of larceny
Synonyms:
charge; complaint
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("complaint" is a kind of...):
pleading ((law) a statement in legal and logical form stating something on behalf of a party to a legal proceeding)
Domain category:
criminal law (the body of law dealing with crimes and their punishment)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "complaint"):
accusal; accusation (a formal charge of wrongdoing brought against a person; the act of imputing blame or guilt)
Holonyms ("complaint" is a part of...):
bill of indictment; indictment (a formal document written for a prosecuting attorney charging a person with some offense)
Derivation:
complain (make a formal accusation; bring a formal charge)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(civil law) the first pleading of the plaintiff setting out the facts on which the claim for relief is based
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("complaint" is a kind of...):
pleading ((law) a statement in legal and logical form stating something on behalf of a party to a legal proceeding)
Domain category:
civil law (the body of laws established by a state or nation for its own regulation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "complaint"):
libel (the written statement of a plaintiff explaining the cause of action (the defamation) and any relief he seeks)
Derivation:
complain (make a formal accusation; bring a formal charge)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An expression of grievance or resentment
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("complaint" is a kind of...):
objection (the speech act of objecting)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "complaint"):
grievance (a complaint about a (real or imaginary) wrong that causes resentment and is grounds for action)
grumble; grumbling; murmur; murmuring; mutter; muttering (a complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone)
jeremiad (a long and mournful complaint)
kvetch ((Yiddish) a nagging complaint)
pet peeve (an opportunity for complaint that is seldom missed)
whimper; whine (a complaint uttered in a plaintive whining way)
Derivation:
complain (express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(formerly) a loud cry (or repeated cries) of pain or rage or sorrow
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("complaint" is a kind of...):
cry; yell (a loud utterance of emotion (especially when inarticulate))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "complaint"):
exclamation (a loud complaint or protest or reproach)
lament; lamentation; plaint; wail (a cry of sorrow and grief)
Sense 5
Meaning:
An often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("complaint" is a kind of...):
disorder; upset (a physical condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "complaint"):
pip (a minor nonspecific ailment)
kinetosis; motion sickness (the state of being dizzy or nauseated because of the motions that occur while traveling in or on a moving vehicle)
Context examples:
As the matter is to be a "nine days' wonder," they are evidently determined that there shall be no cause of after complaint.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
See here, mister, said he, I make no complaint of being man-handled in this fashion, but I would have you call things by their right names.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Eliza generally took no more notice of her sister's indolence and complaints than if no such murmuring, lounging object had been before her.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
A characteristic complaint in a fertile woman that is indicative of a pregnancy.
(Early Pregnancy Symptom, NCI Thesaurus)
Dill weed oil is used as treatment for digestive complaints.
(Dill Weed Oil, NCI Thesaurus)
She is not well, she has had a nervous complaint on her for several weeks.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Clinical presentation includes complaints of back and abdominal pain, urinary frequency, perineal pain and constipation.
(Pelvic Lipomatosis, NCI Thesaurus)
Modified Hachinski Ischemic Scale-NACC Version (MHIS-NACC) Somatic complaints.
(MHIS-NACC - Somatic Complaints, NCI Thesaurus)
Well, these are useless complaints; I shall certainly find no friend on the wide ocean, nor even here in Archangel, among merchants and seamen.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
People who suffer as I do from nervous complaints can have no great inclination for talking.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
