PROBLEM

Pronunciation (US):

• PROBLEM (noun)
  The noun PROBLEM has 3 senses:

1. a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved
2. a source of difficulty
3. a question raised for consideration or solution

  Familiarity information: PROBLEM used as a noun is uncommon.

• PROBLEM (noun)

Meaning:

A state of difficulty that needs to be resolved

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

problem; job

Context examples:

she and her husband are having problems / it is always a job to contact him / urban problems such as traffic congestion and smog

Hypernyms ("problem" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "problem"):

race problem (a social and political problem caused by conflict between races occupying the same or adjacent regions)

balance-of-payments problem (an economic problem caused by payments for imports being greater than receipts for exports)

Meaning:

A source of difficulty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

trouble; problem

Context examples:

one trouble after another delayed the job / what's the problem?

Hypernyms ("problem" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "problem"):

can of worms (a source of unpredictable trouble and complexity)

deep water (serious trouble)

growing pains (problems that arise in enlarging an enterprise (especially in the early stages))

hydra (trouble that cannot be overcome by a single effort because of its many aspects or its persistent and pervasive quality)

matter (a problem)

Meaning:

A question raised for consideration or solution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

our homework consisted of ten problems to solve

Hypernyms ("problem" is a kind of...):

head; question (the subject matter at issue)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "problem"):

koan (a paradoxical anecdote or a riddle that has no solution; used in Zen Buddhism to show the inadequacy of logical reasoning)

acrostic; word square (a puzzle where you fill a square grid with words reading the same down as across)

pons asinorum (a problem that severely tests the ability of an inexperienced person)

rebus (a puzzle where you decode a message consisting of pictures representing syllables and words)

crossword; crossword puzzle (a puzzle in which words corresponding to numbered clues are to be found and written in to squares in the puzzle)

Gordian knot (any very difficult problem; insoluble in its own terms)

poser; sticker; stumper; toughie (a particularly difficult or baffling question or problem)

brain-teaser; conundrum; enigma; riddle (a difficult problem)

homework problem (a problem that students are assigned to do outside of class)

case (a problem requiring investigation)

mystifier; puzzle; puzzler; teaser (a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution)