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ail
verb [T] (CAUSE DIFFICULTY) /eɪl/ formalDefinition
› to cause difficulty and problems for someone or something: The government seems to have no understanding of what ails the country.Causing difficulties for oneself or others
(Definition of ail verb (CAUSE DIFFICULTY) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
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SMART Thesaurus: Causing difficulties for oneself or others
Synonyms and related words:
- be a tall order idiom
- be asking for trouble idiom
- be your own worst enemy idiom
- catch sb out phrasal verb (CAUSE DIFFICULTY)
- come back/home to roost idiom
- fault line noun (PROBLEM)
- head for sth phrasal verb
- land sb in sth phrasal verb
- lay up trouble for yourself idiom
- lay yourself open to attack, criticism, ridicule, etc. idiom
- like pulling teeth idiom
- plunge (sb/sth) into sth phrasal verb
- pose verb (CAUSE)
- shoot yourself in the foot idiom
- sow the seeds of sth idiom
- spell trouble idiom
- store up trouble/problems idiom
- storm cloud noun
- suicide noun (DEFEAT)
- wrong-foot verb
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