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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Difficulty


DIFFICULTY, noun [Latin]

1. Hardness to be done or accomplished; the state of any thing which renders its performance laborious or perplexing; opposed to easiness or facility; as the difficulty of a task or enterprise; a work of labor and difficulty

2. That which is hard to be performed or surmounted. We often mistake difficulties for impossibilities. To overcome difficulties is an evidence of a great mind.

3. Perplexity; embarrassment of affairs; trouble; whatever renders progress or execution of designs laborious. We lie under many difficulties, by reason of bad markets, or a low state of trade.

4. Objection; obstacle to belief; that which cannot be easily understood, explained or believed, Men often raise difficulties concerning miracles and mysteries in religion, which candid research will remove.

5. In a popular sense, bodily complaints; indisposition.