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| Date: | 1100-1200 |
| Language: | Old French |
| Origin: | hurter 'to crash violently into' |
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hurt1 S2 W3
past tense and past participle hurt
past tense and past participle hurt1 to injure yourself or someone else : Was anyone hurt in the accident? Put that thing down - you might hurt someone with it. ➔ see usage note damage2
injure somebody
[transitive]Was anyone hurt in the accident?Put that thing down - you might hurt someone with it.2 to feel pain in part of your body [↪ ache]: My back hurts. Where does it hurt? It hurts when I try to move my leg.
feel pain
[intransitive]My back hurts.Where does it hurt?It hurts when I try to move my leg.3 to cause pain in a part of your body : The sun's hurting my eyes.
cause pain
[transitive]The sun's hurting my eyes.4 to make someone feel very upset, unhappy, sad etc :
insult somebody
[intransitive and transitive] it hurts (somebody) to do something What hurts is that he never even said goodbye. It hurt me to think that you hated me.
What hurts is that he never even said goodbye.It hurt me to think that you hated me.5 to have a bad effect on someone or something, especially by making them less successful or powerful : Foreign competition has hurt the company's position in the market.
bad effect
[transitive]Foreign competition has hurt the company's position in the market.6
be hurting
American Englisha) informal to feel very upset or unhappy about something : Martha's going through a divorce and really hurting right now.
Martha's going through a divorce and really hurting right now.b) if a group, organization etc is hurting, they do not have something important that they need
7 said when you think someone should do something or that something is a good idea : The house looks pretty good, but a fresh paint job wouldn't hurt either.
something won't/doesn't hurt
spokenThe house looks pretty good, but a fresh paint job wouldn't hurt either.WORD CHOICE: WORD CHOICE:
damage, hurt, injure, woundDamage means to cause physical harm to a thing or to a part of your body • Fires can damage crops and animals. • He damaged a knee ligament playing rugby.You do not usually talk about damaging a person. Use hurt, injure, or wound instead • He was hurt in a climbing accident (NOT He was damaged in a climbing accident). However, you can talk about damaging an unborn child • German measles in pregnancy can damage your baby.Use hurt or injure to talk about people suffering physical harm as a result of an accident, earthquake, hurricane etc • No one was hurt in the car crash. • We hoped he wasn't seriously injured.!! Do not say 'injure someone's health'. Say ' damage someone's health '.Use wound to talk about someone being hurt by a weapon such as a gun or a knife • He shot dead three people and wounded several others. • a wounded soldier ➔ See also damage
WORD CHOICE: damage, hurt, injure, woundDamage means to cause physical harm to a thing or to a part of your body • Fires can damage crops and animals. • He damaged a knee ligament playing rugby.You do not usually talk about damaging a person. Use hurt, injure, or wound instead • He was hurt in a climbing accident (NOT He was damaged in a climbing accident). However, you can talk about damaging an unborn child • German measles in pregnancy can damage your baby.Use hurt or injure to talk about people suffering physical harm as a result of an accident, earthquake, hurricane etc • No one was hurt in the car crash. • We hoped he wasn't seriously injured.!! Do not say 'injure someone's health'. Say ' damage someone's health '.Use wound to talk about someone being hurt by a weapon such as a gun or a knife • He shot dead three people and wounded several others. • a wounded soldier ➔ See also damage
