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at pains, be at



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Idioms and Phrases

Also, take pains . Make a special effort or take extra trouble to do something. For example, Bob was at pains to make a good first impression and wore his best suit , or Mary took pains to make sure her speech would interest the audience . [First half of 1500s]

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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