COMPLAIN, v.i. 1. To utter expressions of grief; to lament.I will complain in the bitterness of my spirit. Job 7.I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed. Ps. 77.2. To utter expressions of censure or resentment; to murmur; to find fault.And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord. Num. 11.3. To utter expressions of uneasiness, or pain. He complains of thirst. He complains of a head-ache.4. To charge; to accuse of an offense; to present an accusation against a person to a proper officer.To A B, one of the justices of the peace for the county of S, complains C D.This verb is regularly followed by of, before the cause of grief or censure; as, to complain of thirst, of ignorance, of vice, of an offender.5. To represent injuries, particularly in a writ of Audita Querela.COMPLAIN, v.t. To lament; to bewail. They might the grievance inwardly complain.This use of complain is uncommon, and hardly legitimate. The phrase is properly elliptical.
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