Definition of "complain"

complain

/kəmˈpleɪn/

verb
third-person singular simple present complains, present participle complaining, simple past and past participle complained
1. (intransitive) To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.
  Quotations
  O loſs of ſight, of thee I moſt complain!
  1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], page 12, line 67
2. (intransitive) To make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge.
  Quotations
  Now, Master Shallow, you'll complain of me to the king?
  c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i]
  If you get cheated by the Better Business Bureau, who do you complain to?
  1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings‎, New York: Hyperion Books, page 85
3. To creak or squeak, as a timber or wheel.

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