during the investigation, ip ^     |a} §: f!l T

SuTo 0 (informal) ‘How are you?’ ‘Oh, I can’t complain (= I’m all right).’     ” “W,       ’fro

[V (that)] He complained bitterly that he had been unfairly treated, (ill‘ftflitfeftft fife«, o [V speech] ‘It’s not fair,’ she complained. “y& AUJ&fco ” h&ikMMc i^iiM com1 plain of sth to say that you feel ill/sick or are suffering from a pain ft ft ( ^'tf ^ ) : She left early, complaining of a headache. Mftg

m&, m-mnftTs-- -

com plain ant noun (BrE) = plaintiff COITI-plaint On /kam'pleint/ noun 1 [C] ~ (about/against sb/sth) | ~ (that ... ) a reason for not being satisfied; a statement that sb makes saying that they are not satisfied yfv$r(ft®; ft ft; ft ^: The most common complaint is about poor service. H # £ W ft ft •% IS # fk M fk «. 0 We received a number of complaints from customers about the lack of parking facilities. IMlfesil'TSfcS JS£(fti££&ft»- (ife^ifa^ftS&o o I believe you have a complaint against one of our nurses.      0

I’d like to make a complaint about the noise, ft Sc ift : la|p| IS H ft ft ft o 0 a formal complaint IE ft ft ft 0 a complaint that he had been unfairly treated j&^ftiftjS: 3\ T 4^ ftlE# iS o (formal) to fileAodge (= make) a complaint SlttiSft 2 [U] the act of complaining iS3§; 'EPi: I can see no grounds for complaint, ft if 'SIS lio 0 a letter of complaint ft ft.fa 3 [C] an illness, especially one that is not serious, and often one that affects a particular part of the body ( ft fit 4^ f* S,  a skin complaint fe

com plai sant /kam’pleizant/ adj. (old-fashioned) ready to accept other people’s actions and opinions and to do what other people want M jk 67; ft ®] (ft ► complai- sance /kam'pleizans/ noun [U] com plect ed /kam'plektid/ adj. (NAmE, informal) (used with adjectives   jjft) with skin and a com­

plexion of the type mentioned ft ■ ■ • (fy : fair/dark complected ftfeS® / com ple ment verb, noun

■ verb /'kmnpliment; NAmE 'ka:m-/ [VN] to add to sth in a

synonyms mxmmtf

complain

protest ♦ object ♦ grumble ♦ moan ♦ whine ♦ whinge

These words all mean to say that you are annoyed, unhappy or not satisfied about sb/sth. 1/tJ: ft i«]Mj

complain to say that you are annoyed, unhappy or not satisfied about sb/sth      ifiI'm

going to complain to the manager about this, ftlciftii

protest to say or do sth to show that you disagree with or disapprove of sth, especially publicly; to give sth as a reason for protesting

Students took to the streets to protest against the decision.

object to say that you disagree with or disapprove of sth; to give sth as a reason for objecting Itff'lhJJL 'f $$/$,   If nobody objects, we’ll postpone

the meeting till next week.  ftff lMft

o He objected that the police had arrested him without sufficient evidence.

grumble (rather informal, disapproving) to complain about sb/sth in a bad-tempered way   Hgpu#, ft

: They kept grumbling that they were cold. fMT'F

moan (BrE, rather informal, disapproving) to complain about sb/sth in an annoying way ]h          What

are you moaning on about now?   & BJS?

whine (rather informal, disapproving) to complain in an

| 401   complementary colour

way that improves it or makes it more attractive 14

Tb; *F&; fa5uli;   The excellent menu

is complemented by a good wine list. hj

Ufa % fk ft Sfe o 0 The team needs players who comple­ment each other.         HI #   5. %Lft ftl-PA 1„

note at compliment

■ noun /'komplimant; NAmE 'ka:m-/ 1 ~ (to sth) a thing that adds hew qualities to sth in a way that improves it or makes it more attractive if ft ty) ■ 14 JS. ty) 2 the complete number or quantity needed or allowed /g. fit; : We’ve taken our full complement of trainees thisyear.         3 (grammar^

ft) a word or phrase, especially an adjective or a noun, that is used after linking verbs such as be and become, and describes the subject of the verb. In some descriptions of grammar it is used to refer to any word or phrase which is governed by a verb and usually comes after the verb in a sentence. # IS. iff;       In

the sentences ‘I’m angry’ and ‘He became a politician’, ‘angry’ and ‘politician’ are complements.       I’m angry

ft He became a politician 4V angry ft politician com ple men tary /.kompli'mentri; NAmE ,ka:m-/ adj. ~ (to sth) two people or things that are complemen­tary are different but together form a useful or attractive combination of skills, qualities or physical features JL 14  ; 14 ft (ft ; 1f S14 5L (ft : The school’s

approach must be complementary to that of the parents.

note at

COMPLIMENT

,complementary 'angle noun (geometry /lfa) either of two angles which together make 90° ffefa -—com­pare SUPPLEMENTARY ANGLE

.complementary 'colour (erf) (NAmE complemen­tary 'color) noun (technical A: iff) 1 a colour that, when mixed with another colour, gives black or white 514

2 a colour that gives the greatest contrast when combined with a particular colour

lIKfe ) : The designer has chosen the complementary colours blue and orange, ft if ifipjgisfljt TM

annoying, crying voice

Stop whining!     ! o 7 want to go home, ’

whined Toby, "ft f

CEIH Whine is often used to talk about the way that young children complain. * whine T''M£ f M&o

whinge (erf, informal, disapproving) to complain about sb/sth in an annoying way     She’s

always whingeing about how unfair everything is. MZ

GRUMBLE, MOAN OR WHINGE ? ft grumble, moan whinge ?

These are all fairly informal words for ‘complain’. Grumble tells you how the person who is complaining feels (= they are in a bad mood); moan and whinge tell you more about how the people listening to the complaints feel (= the complaining is annoying them). W± :-r.iflI^J>J complain (ft #• iEftft i«l, grumble WZtiTOF; moan ft whinge

ift^fa,

PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS

■                  to complain/protest/grumble/moan/whine/whinge about sth

■                  to complain/protest/grumble/moan at sth

■                  to complain/protest/object/grumble/moan/whine/ whinge to sb

■                  to complain/protest/object/grumble/moan/whine that...

to complain/protest/object bitterly