at pains
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
taking great care or effort to do something
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Đặt nhiều công sức hoặc nỗ lực để làm điều gì đó
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: experiencing pain
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She was at pains to explain the concept clearly.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “at pains” mean?
taking great care or effort to do something Literally: experiencing pain
Is “at pains” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.