verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
complain of a headache (=say that you have a headache)
▪ Your child may complain of headaches or problems seeing the blackboard.
complain of pain (=say that you have a pain in a part of your body)
▪ After we finished our run, Tom complained of pains in his chest.
complained bitterly
▪ He complained bitterly about his exam grades.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
about
▪ Gray complained about the team's lack of good luck.
▪ Ugly, yes, but nothing Bob Dole would complain about.
▪ It has put together a machine with little to complain about.
▪ In the cases that Keenan complained about, Huckelberry admits changing the decision of the selection committee, but denies any wrongdoing.
▪ I do not complain about that so far as he is concerned because no doubt it would be an additional and unnecessary expense for him.
▪ Too many lawyers complain about the sameness of their activity, day to day, month to month.
▪ The trains are so fast that the passengers complain about not being able to see any of the countries beautiful scenery.
▪ The 30-foot Fleetwood was immaculate, and we found little to complain about.
always
▪ Historians have always complained of content overloads in syllabuses and National Curriculum orders are no different.
▪ My 11-year-old son is always complaining his tummy hurts.
▪ Ada Gaily complained, had always complained, loud and long and bitterly, against the tenor of her life.
▪ Why do people always complain about that?
▪ He is always complaining about having to flog electric storage heaters anyway.
▪ Ed was always complaining, those last few months.
▪ The man who shared her apartment was surly, unfriendly, and always complaining about the lifts and the garbage disposal.
bitterly
▪ The boys gasped, wheezed and giggled; the plumper ones complained bitterly.
▪ He complained bitterly after being surprised by Pat Buchanan in an early primary about a pollster whose predictions had been too optimistic.
▪ Student B immediately slams it shut, complaining bitterly of hay fever.
▪ He complained bitterly of the small attention that was paid to his ideas in his own country.
▪ Lewis-Ann sat under a huge umbrella, fully clothed, complaining bitterly about being too hot.
▪ Norah complained bitterly that her style had brought the company free publicity worth far more than it cost.
▪ And he complains bitterly that exhaustive health tests were not done years ago.
▪ We all complained bitterly when it looked as though Adobe was restricting the development of PostScript and keeping the market to itself.
never
▪ I never complained as I went off to watch West Ham that afternoon, having scoffed his portion of chips.
▪ She has never complained of her arthritis to me-thinks it amounts to nothing beside mine.
▪ She never complains even when she's not well.
▪ This was a worker who showed up every day, never complained, you know, gave the job his all.
▪ But she never complained, nor suggested they should not go.
▪ People that pay for things never complain.
▪ Even Zack, who never complained.
▪ But our viewing choices are not as limited as you might think and our children have never complained of feeling deprived.
often
▪ Students often complain that nothing has been learned from a particular allocation.
▪ The private sector often complains about public enterprise, arguing that government should not compete with business.
▪ Since employees often complain about receiving belated information particular management attention should be given to correct timing.
▪ Match anglers often complain about bad, or should I say thoughtless, pegging.
▪ Critics of legal drafting often complain that lawyers are fond of using legal jargon.
■ NOUN
customer
▪ Sometimes, however, a customer will complain that he has been given incorrect change.
▪ Fifty to 75 percent of the customers who complain and have their problem resolved would do business with the company again.
▪ Irate customers who bother to complain to their local water executives will be told the rises are no higher than were forecast.
▪ About a dozen customers complained to Young of discrimination.
▪ This tends to support the hypothesis that although customers will complain about price increases it does not necessarily alter their visiting behaviour.
▪ He points out that customers must first complain to the Tessa provider before lodging a claim with the ombudsman.
▪ Better to have it from some one you know and respect, rather than have a customer complain.
▪ I want to encourage such customers to complain and I want us to resolve those complaints quickly. courteously and efficiently.
lack
▪ The response to mounting criticism is to reorganise or complain of lack of resources.
▪ Nor did Amelia complain about her lack of money.
▪ Some have complained about lack of space in just exercising their mounts.
▪ Investors have complained about a lack of regulation over the Czech capital markets and poor disclosure rules for company information.
▪ In October a former Minister, Charles Fiterman, withdrew formally from conference preparations, complaining about lack of internal democracy.
▪ Some park museum directors complain about the lack of priority given their marketing, maintenance and operational needs.
▪ He snores and she complains about the lack of a good cup of tea.
▪ Our field stores have been complaining about the lack of responsiveness from the staff.
member
▪ One member complains about smoking in the chamber.
▪ There is no water; members are complaining.
▪ Most House members complain that Baird was rolled too often by the Senate.
▪ I have curtained the towel service; members are complaining.
▪ The court hearing system at Bushey isn't operating correctly; members are complaining.
▪ One Conservative Member complained that ministers tended to dominate on regional programmes, while local Members were squeezed out.
▪ Several new members complained that their subscriptions had been misused, but nobody running the society bothered to answer the complaints.
noise
▪ Mrs. Mott had complained of the noise they made going to and fro.
▪ They have complained about the noise and mess caused by builders working on apartments for the elderly.
▪ This will also go a long way towards preventing your neighbour complaining about the noise you make.
▪ All great fun for the flyer but not for those inclined to complain about noise pollution.
▪ Residents nearby have complained about noise and disturbance late at night.
▪ These results led the authors to assume that patients were unwilling to complain about noise levels.
pain
▪ She continued to complain of epigastric pain and flatulence but repeated investigations were negative.
▪ Two days later, after refusing to eat and complaining of stomach pain, Jimmy was hospitalized.
▪ Patients may complain of intractable pain in the neck or the back of the head.
▪ She complains of aching pain and has trouble sitting.
▪ She hadn't complained about pain after that first night when she insisted on moving in and living with him permanently.
▪ She went to hospital where she complained of pain in her right shoulder and in the right side of her chest.
▪ He had a fever and complained about a pain in his right thigh.
▪ The afflicted person will complain of aches and pains, headache, sore throat, loss of appetite, and general malaise.
people
▪ It means getting out on the road with the sales people before they complain about call schedules.
▪ So what makes some people complain their day away?
▪ At present 68 live in accommodation intended for 55. People living nearby complain that the children are disruptive.
▪ The noise echoes throughout the usually serene hills surrounding Potrero, but few people are complaining about the commotion.
▪ You never were, although the slum people were complaining that a monster was preying on them.
▪ I hear people complaining about their lives and the world.
▪ Currently, we tend to tolerate diseases and take action only when people start to complain.
▪ But people complained that the Net has become too congested and slow, and too hard to make a profit on.
woman
▪ Her husband said the petite woman had complained of fatigue as they plodded up a Canyon trail.
▪ The report said there was not enough evidence in the case of the other two women who complained.
▪ I once heard of a woman who complained that all the attractive men in London were gay.
▪ Women clean house in a kibbutz because, like women everywhere, they complain that men would not do it properly.
▪ The row started when the woman phoned to complain about comments she believed Snell had made about Ellesmere Port.
▪ Menopausal women sometimes complain that with the cessation of ovarian function their femaleness is being stripped from them.
■ VERB
begin
▪ It was not long before they began to complain.
▪ After a few minutes of running through drills, the girls began to complain of headaches and blurred vision.
▪ People began to complain about feelings of sickness, vomiting, diarrhoea and headaches.
▪ Hospitals, project managers revealed the findings of samples taken since tunnel toll takers began complaining early last month of noxious odors.
▪ He began to complain about Theresa, who was studying for medical school.
hear
▪ Thirdly, farmers are often heard to complain of a shortage of workers on the land.
▪ Many years later we would hear her still complaining about this.
▪ One was heard to complain that there were insufficient Trolls to go round.
▪ In any case, since there was no reduction in his before-breakfast or after-supper appetites, he never heard her complain.
▪ They do not want to be heard to complain.
▪ Did you ever hear the cellphone operators complaining that the early competition adversely affected their business?
▪ I had heard them complaining of how nauseated they felt, how the very thought of food sickened them.
start
▪ Wednesday Dad has started complaining about the school holidays early this year.
▪ But it might be a little early to start complaining.
▪ I thought I could let a dozen or so through before anyone would start to complain.
▪ Currently, we tend to tolerate diseases and take action only when people start to complain.
▪ You might start complaining that all these changes are happening too rapidly for comfort.
▪ Jacqueline was awake and starting to complain.
write
▪ In May the Girls would sit out on the steel fire escapes during shows and write home complaining about the unaccustomed heat.
▪ I am writing to complain about manufacturers who use unnecessary packaging.
▪ Lots of readers have written in complaining about the lack of uniformity in children's clothes sizes.
▪ Especially those who wrote in complaining about ish 82 and the new look.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ He constantly complains about how he's treated at work.
▪ If the hotel isn't satisfactory, you should complain to the Tourist Office.
▪ Jenny's always complaining that her boss gives her too much work.
▪ Their neighbours complained about their constant loud music.
▪ We had to remove the advertisement because so many people complained.
▪ Workers who had lost their jobs complained bitterly about the way they had been treated.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But you won't catch me complaining.
▪ Denise complained bitterly after he died.
▪ I should have complained about the first case, but I was inexperienced then.
▪ Many were calling the central office to complain.
▪ Once at her new work place she complained bitterly of how her style had been cramped.
▪ The patient complained that she had to void more urine.
▪ This was a worker who showed up every day, never complained, you know, gave the job his all.