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Plural / 3rd person of problem. Showing the entry for problem.

problem

prob·lem

UK/ˈpɹɒbləm/ US/ˈpɹɒblɪm/ very common

noun

1.

a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved

  • “she and her husband are having problems”
  • “it is always a job to contact him”
  • “urban problems such as traffic congestion and smog”
Synonyms
2.

a source of difficulty

  • “one trouble after another delayed the job”
  • “what”
Synonyms
3.

a question raised for consideration or solution

  • “our homework consisted of ten problems to solve”

Origin

From Middle English probleme, from Middle French probleme, from Latin problēma, from Ancient Greek πρόβλημα (próblēma, “anything thrown forward, hindrance, obstacle, anything projecting, a headland, promontory”), from προβάλλω (probállō, “to throw or lay something in front of someone, to put forward”), from προ- (pro-, “in front of”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw, to cast, to hurl”). Doublet of problema.

Phrases

  • a problem shared is a problem halved
  • ABA problem
  • agency problem
  • alcohol problem
  • algorithmic problem
  • Alhazen's problem
  • alignment problem
  • Apollonian problem

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.