Hurts

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /hɜːts/

Definitions

1. To inflict physical pain or emotional distress upon an individual or to cause damage to something, leading to adverse consequences
2. To cause a state of suffering, whether it be emotional or physical, or to adversely affect the integrity of an object
3. To cause pain or distress to a person or animal ; to inflict damage or adverse effects on an object or situation

Etymology: The verb "hurts" is simply the third-person singular present of "hurt," so its story is the story of the verb itself. That verb entered English in Middle English, where it meant "to injure" but also "to knock together" or "to collide," a sense closer to the physical clash of two objects than to pain felt in the body. The likeliest source is Old Northern French "hurter," meaning "to ram into, strike, collide with," which may come from a Frankish word for a battering ram. That origin fits the early meaning neatly: to hurt something was first to run into it hard. Some scholars instead link the French verb to Old Norse "hrútr," meaning "ram" (the male sheep), which would connect it to the English word "hart" for a male deer, though this theory is less settled. The Middle English verb may also descend from an unrecorded Old English form, which later merged with the French one.

Synonyms: aches, pains, distresses, torments, anguishes

Antonyms: heals, soothes, comforts, relieves, cures