COMPLAINT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Complaint

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/kəmplˈeɪnt/ Listen

noun

Complaint n.

Expression of grief, regret, pain, censure, or resentment; lamentation; murmuring; accusation; fault-finding. "I poured out my complaint before him." "Grievous complaints of you."

Cause or subject of complaint or murmuring. "The poverty of the clergy in England hath been the complaint of all who wish well to the church."

An ailment or disease of the body. "One in a complaint of his bowels."

(Law) A formal allegation or charge against a party made or presented to the appropriate court or officer, as for a wrong done or a crime committed (in the latter case, generally under oath); an information; accusation; the initial bill in proceedings in equity.

Synonyms: Lamentation; murmuring; sorrow; grief; disease; illness; disorder; malady; ailment.

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Etymology of 'Complaint'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Complaint" Quotes from Famous Books

... not be improper to add that to preserve this state of things and give confidence to the world in the integrity of our designs all our consular and diplomatic agents are strictly enjoined to examine well every cause of complaint preferred by our citizens, and while they urge with proper earnestness those that are well founded, to countenance none that are unreasonable or unjust, and to enjoin on our merchants and navigators the ...

— State of the Union Addresses of Andrew Jackson • Andrew Jackson

... how insecure was my tenure of office. I prepared myself for dismissal, and hoped that, when the hour arrived, I should submit without repining. In the meanwhile, I was careful in the performance of every duty, and studious to give no cause, not the remotest, for complaint or dissatisfaction. It was not long, however, before signs of an altered state of things presented themselves to view. A straw tells which way the wind blows, and wisps began to fly in all directions. I found at length that I could do nothing right. To-day ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXVIII. February, 1843. Vol. LIII. • Various

... came with a stunning force upon the ears of men who had expected the Bishop to agree with them in their complaint, and had its effect. On the day Mr. Carroll left the village, he received a kind and sympathetic letter from the official members of the church enclosing the sum of two hundred dollars. The first impulse of his natural feelings was to return the enclosure, but reflection showed ...

— The Lights and Shadows of Real Life • T.S. Arthur

... and, in requital of your prophecy, hark you: I advise you, let me not find 230 you before me again upon any complaint whatsoever; no, not for dwelling where you do: if I do, Pompey, I shall beat you to your tent, and prove a shrewd Caesar to you; in plain dealing, Pompey, I shall have you whipt: so, for this time, ...

— Measure for Measure - The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] • William Shakespeare

... in La Cibot's mind by his squalid surroundings. The little lawyer with the black-speckled green eyes was in reality making a study of his client. When at length she came to a stand and looked to him to speak, he was seized with a fit of the complaint known as a "churchyard cough," and had recourse to an earthenware basin half full of herb ...

— Cousin Pons • Honore de Balzac

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