complication

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com·pli·ca·tion

(kŏm′plĭ-kā′shən)

1. The act of complicating.

2. A confused or intricate relationship of parts.

3. A factor, condition, or element that complicates.

4. Medicine A secondary disease, an accident, or a negative reaction occurring during the course of an illness and usually aggravating the illness.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

complication

(ˌkɒmplɪˈkeɪʃən)

1. a condition, event, etc, that is complex or confused

2. the act or process of complicating

3. a situation, event, or condition that complicates or frustrates: her coming was a serious complication.

4. (Pathology) a disease or disorder arising as a consequence of another disease

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

com•pli•ca•tion

(ˌkɒm plɪˈkeɪ ʃən)

n.

1. the act of complicating.

2. a complicated or involved state or condition.

3. a complex combination of elements or things.

4. something that introduces, usu. unexpectedly, a difficulty, problem, change, etc.

5. a concurrent disease, accident, or adverse reaction that aggravates the original disease.

[1605–15; < Late Latin]

com′pli•ca`tive, adj.

Complication

can of worms A situation or specific problem which threatens to cause trouble and have unresolvable complications for all concerned; a sore spot; a sensitive topic better left unexplored. A can of worms might pass for an acceptable product before it is opened. However, to open a can of worms means to instigate trouble, to broach a subject or do something questionable which has uncontrollable, complex, and negative repercussions.

Pandora’s box A source of afflictions and complications which plague one without warning; a loaded situation; something which appears in a positive light but is negative in effect. In Greek mythology, Pandora, the first woman, was showered with gifts from the gods, among them a magnificent box presented her by Zeus which she was told never to open. Disobeying the gods, she opened it, and unwittingly allowed all of the human ills contained within to escape. Only Hope remained. The term appeared as early as the mid-16th century.

I cannot liken our affection better than … to Pandora’s box, lift up the lid, out flies the Devil; shut it up fast, it cannot hurt us. (Stephen Gosson, The School of Abuse, 1579)

red tape Excessive formality and petty routine, preventing expeditious disposal of important matters. The term derives from the literal red tape with which official and legal documents were formerly bound and sealed. Though its use has proliferated along with the proliferation of bureaucracy and departmentalization, its current figurative meaning is by no means recent:

All the morning at the customhouse, plagued with red tape. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Life, 1869)

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	complication - the act or process of complicating interference, hinderance, hindrance - the act of hindering or obstructing or impeding
	2.	complication - a situation or condition that is complex or confused; "her coming was a serious complication" situation, state of affairs - the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time; "the present international situation is dangerous"; "wondered how such a state of affairs had come about"; "eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation"- Franklin D.Roosevelt
	3.	complication - any disease or disorder that occurs during the course of (or because of) another disease; "bed sores are a common complication in cases of paralysis"
	4.	complication - a development that complicates a situation; "the court's decision had many unforeseen ramifications" ramification development - a recent event that has some relevance for the present situation; "recent developments in Iraq"; "what a revolting development!"
	5.	complication - puzzling complexity complicatedness, knottiness, tortuousness complexity, complexness - the quality of being intricate and compounded; "he enjoyed the complexity of modern computers"

complication

noun

1. problem, difficulty, obstacle, drawback, snag, uphill (S. African), stumbling block, aggravation The age difference was a complication to the relationship.

2. complexity, combination, mixture, web, confusion, intricacy, entanglement His poetry was characterised by a complication of imagery and ideas.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

complication

noun

Something complex:

complexity, intricacy.

Translations

تَعْقِيدتَعْقيد، شَيءٌ مُعَقَّدتَعْقيدات، صُعوبات

komplikace

komplikationindviklethed

KomplikationWeiterungErschwerung

περιπλοκή

complicación

hankaluus

complication imbroglio

komplikacija

szövõdmény

aukakvilli

complicazione

複雑な要因

골칫거리

complicatie

forverring forvikling komplikasjon

powikłanie

complicação

компликация осложнение затруднение

komplikácia

težavazaplet

komplikation

การทำให้ยุ่งยาก

engel komplikasyon sorunyeni sorunzorluk

sự phức tạp

复杂化复杂的情况并发症

complication

[ˌkɒmplɪˈkeɪʃən] N → complicación f
it seems there are complications → parece que han surgido complicaciones or dificultades

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

complication

[ˌkɒmplɪˈkeɪʃ^ən] n

(= problem) (gen) → complication f

(medical) → complication f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

complication

n → Komplikation f; (= complicated nature) → Kompliziertheit f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

complication

[ˌkɒmplɪˈkeɪʃ/ən] n → complicazione f

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

complicate

(ˈkomplikeit) verb

to make difficult. His illness will complicate matters.

ˈcomplicated adjective

(negative uncomplicated) difficult to understand. complicated instructions.

ˌcompliˈcation noun

1. something making a situation etc more difficult. Taking the dog with us on holiday will be an added complication.

2. a development (in an illness etc) which makes things worse.

complication

→ تَعْقِيد komplikace komplikation Komplikation περιπλοκή complicación hankaluus complication komplikacija complicazione 複雑な要因 골칫거리 complicatie forvikling powikłanie complicação затруднение komplikation การทำให้ยุ่งยาก zorluk sự phức tạp 复杂化

com·pli·ca·tion

n. complicación.

complication

n complicación f

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References in classic literature ?

He thought not of his wife, but of a complication that had arisen in his official life, which at the time constituted the chief interest of it.

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Stroeve went twice a day to the hospital to enquire after his wife, who still declined to see him; and came away at first relieved and hopeful because he was told that she seemed to be growing better, and then in despair because, the complication which the doctor had feared having ensued, recovery was impossible.

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It is therefore evident that the unravelling of the plot, no less than the complication, must arise out of the plot itself, it must not be brought about by the 'Deus ex Machina'--as in the Medea, or in the Return of the Greeks in the Iliad.

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But as he was making this artless confession I said to myself that, whatever consequences and complications he might have imagined, the complication from which he was suffering now could never, never have presented itself to his mind.

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And this horrible problem was only an extrane- ous episode, a mere complication in the general problem of how to get that ship--which was mine with her appurtenances and her men, with her body and her spirit now slumbering in that pestilential river--how to get her out to sea.

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I never met anybody personally concerned in this affair, the interest of which for us was, of course, not the bad weather but the extraordinary complication brought into the ship's life at a moment of exceptional stress by the human element below her deck.

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The barber cudgelled Sancho, and Sancho pommelled the barber; Don Luis gave one of his servants, who ventured to catch him by the arm to keep him from escaping, a cuff that bathed his teeth in blood; the Judge took his part; Don Fernando had got one of the officers down and was belabouring him heartily; the landlord raised his voice again calling for help for the Holy Brotherhood; so that the whole inn was nothing but cries, shouts, shrieks, confusion, terror, dismay, mishaps, sword-cuts, fisticuffs, cudgellings, kicks, and bloodshed; and in the midst of all this chaos, complication, and general entanglement, Don Quixote took it into his head that he had been plunged into the thick of the discord of Agramante's camp; and, in a voice that shook the inn like thunder, he cried out:

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The very complication of the business, by introducing a necessity of the concurrence of so many different bodies, would of itself afford a solid objection.

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It was marvellous, a feast for the eyes, this complication of coloured tints, a perfect kaleidoscope of green, yellow, orange, violet, indigo, and blue; in one word, the whole palette of an enthusiastic colourist!

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On the 10th of June, the party was a little to the east of the Wind River Mountains, where they halted for a time in excellent pasturage, to give their horses a chance to recruit their strength for a long journey; for it was Captain Bonneville's intention to shape his course to the settlements; having already been detained by the complication of his duties, and by various losses and impediments, far beyond the time specified in his leave of absence.

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These complications of Seldon and Marchiali - the complications first of setting at liberty and then imprisoning again, the complications arising from the strong likeness in question - had at last found a very proper denouement .

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There are no complications in her life which I do not know of?

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