COMPLAINT

charge, complaint

(noun) (criminal law) a pleading describing some wrong or offense; “he was arrested on a charge of larceny”

complaint

(noun) (civil law) the first pleading of the plaintiff setting out the facts on which the claim for relief is based

complaint

(noun) an expression of grievance or resentment

complaint

(noun) (formerly) a loud cry (or repeated cries) of pain or rage or sorrow

ailment, complaint, ill

(noun) an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

complaint (countable and uncountable, plural complaints)

The act of complaining.

A grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern.

(legal) In a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff setting out the facts on which the claim is based;
The purpose is to give notice to the adversary of the nature and basis of the claim asserted.

(legal) In criminal law, the preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another to the appropriate court or officer, usually a magistrate.
However, court proceedings, such as a trial, cannot be instituted until an indictment or information has been handed down against the defendant.

A bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder.

Synonyms

• (in criminal law, the preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another to the appropriate court or officer) criminal complaint, complaint of an offence/offense, (penal) charge, (criminal) charges, criminal information, informing the police/authorities, notification of the police/authorities, reporting an offence/offense to the police/authorities

Anagrams

• coimplant, compliant

Source: Wiktionary

Com*plaint", n. Etym: [F. complainte. See Complain.]

1. Expression of grief, regret, pain, censure, or resentment; lamentation; murmuring; accusation; fault-finding. I poured out my complaint before him. Ps. cxlii. 2. Grievous complaints of you. Shak.

2. Cause or subject of complaint or murmuring. The poverty of the clergy in England hath been the complaint of all who wish well to the church. Swift.

3. An ailment or disease of the body. One in a complaint of his bowels. Arbuthnot.

4. (Law)

Definition: A formal allegation or charge against a party made or presented to the appropriate court or officer, as for a wrong done or a crime committed (in the latter case, generally under oath); an information; accusation; the initial bill in proceedings in equity.

Syn.

– Lamentation; murmuring; sorrow; grief; disease; illness; disorder; malady; ailment.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition