Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - suffer

(suffers, suffering, suffered) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you suffer pain, you feel it in your body or in your mind. Within a few days she had become seriously ill, suffering great pain and discomfort... Can you assure me that my father is not suffering? VERB: V n, V 2. If you suffer from an illness or from some other bad condition, you are badly affected by it. He was eventually diagnosed as suffering from terminal cancer... I realized he was suffering from shock. VERB: V from n, V from n 3. If you suffer something bad, you are in a situation in which something painful, harmful, or very unpleasant happens to you. The peace process has suffered a serious blow now... Romania suffered another setback in its efforts to obtain financial support for its reforms. VERB: V n, V n 4. If you suffer, you are badly affected by an event or situation. There are few who have not suffered... It is obvious that Syria will suffer most from this change of heart. VERB: V, V from n 5. If something suffers, it does not succeed because it has not been given enough attention or is in a bad situation. I’m not surprised that your studies are suffering... Without a major boost in tourism, the economy will suffer even further. VERB: V, V 6. see also suffering