Crossword Dictionary
BOTHER
bother - v
intrude or enter uninvited; "Don't bother the professor while she is grading term papers"
make nervous or agitated; "The mere thought of her bothered him and made his heart beat faster"
make confused or perplexed or puzzled
Synonyms
aggravate, alarm, bore, disgust, dismay, disturb, embarrass, exacerbate, hinder, hurt, irk, irritate, nag, perplex, perturb, plague, scare, torment, trouble, upset, worry, afflict, agitate, badger, bedevil, browbeat, concern, cross, discommode, disconcert, displease, disquiet, distress, eat, exasperate, goad, grieve, harry, impede, inconvenience, insult, molest, needle, nudge, pain, pester, provoke, pursue, ride, spite, tantalize, taunt, tease, vex
Examples
If you tell me to leave at the end of it, I'll never bother you again.
Do you guys bother with a trial around here or do you just draw lots and send us blood thirsty killers directly over to Cañon City?
Dean didn't bother to mention certain rules of evidence that looked askance at pilfered items.
Etymology
1718, also bauther, bather, bodder, "to bewilder, confuse;" 1745 as "give trouble to;" first in Irish writers (Sheridan, Swift, Sterne), hence probably from Anglo-Irish pother, which is perhaps from Irish bodhairim "I deafen." Related: Bothered; bothering. As a noun from 1803.