painsnoun [ plural ]
uk/peɪnz/us/peɪnz/be at pains to do sth
to try very hard to do something:
She is at pains to point out how much work she has done.
go to/take great pains to do sth
to make a lot of effort to do something:
I went to great pains to select the best staff available.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Effort and expending energy
- apply
- assiduous
- be running on empty idiom
- bust a gut idiom
- concentrated
- conscientious
- fight
- jump
- mightily
- mind
- overcompensate
- painstaking
- painstakingly
- perseverance
- shot
- slugger
- strenuous
- thirsty work
- trial and error
- work up sth
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