give someone a pain—
1. cause smb. physical pain:
- The prednisone gave her a pain in her liver and stomach, she could not eat, and she lost all her energy.
2. (also: give someone a pain in the neck) annoy or irritate a person:
- What would I want to go up to Florence Leaming’s for? She gives me a pain.
give someone pain—
1. = give someone a pain 1:
- Then after a while I sat up, which gave me pain, for I felt as if I had been beaten all over.
2. make a person feel upset or unhappy:
- I think of memories that gave me pain. It reminds me of how life goes on after a storm.