complain

Related to complain: complaint

can't complain

Things are fine. A casual response to questions like "How are you?" or "How've you been?" A: "Hey, Pat, how are you?" B: "Ah, can't complain!"
See also: complain

complain about (someone or something)

To voice one's annoyance or displeasure with someone or something. Oh boy, which dead president is grandpa complaining about today? If you hate your job so much, quit complaining about it and look for a new one!
See also: complain

complain of (something)

To state the physical ailments or symptoms of illness that one is experiencing. The appendicitis patient came into the ER complaining of stomach pain.
See also: complain, of

complain to (someone or something)

To voice one's annoyance or displeasure to someone or something. If you hate your job so much, quit complaining to me about it and look for a new one! If we complain to the school board, I'm sure we can get this decision overturned.
See also: complain

for all (one's) (something)

In spite of the negative trait or issue the speaker is discussing. In this construction, the speaker indicates a specific person, followed by a problem or shortcoming they have experienced or exhibit. Yeah, she's not remotely punctual, and she gripes a lot, but for all her shortcomings, Elisa is a really great manager—her employees just love her. For all our difficulties buying a house, we still managed to get one that we absolutely love.
See also: all

nothing to complain about

Things are fine. A casual response to questions like "How are you?" or "How've you been?" A: "Hey Pat, how are you?" B: "Ah, nothing to complain about."
See also: complain, nothing

you'd complain if you were hung with a new rope

Said humorously to emphasize that someone complains often, especially over seemingly minor or trivial things. A: "How are you liking the new PC?" B: "Yeah, it's OK, I guess. All the icons are different on the desktop, though." A: "Sheesh. You'd complain if you were hung with a new rope!"
See also: complain, hung, if, new, rope
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

complain about someone or something

to protest someone or something; to grouch about someone or something. Oh, stop complaining about the weather. You are always complaining about me.
See also: complain

complain of something

to moan and suffer from a disease; to report the symptoms of a disease or health condition. Kenneth complained of a headache and general weakness. The patient was complaining of a headache.
See also: complain, of

complain to someone

to grouch or protest to someone. Don't complain to me. I will complain to the manager.
See also: complain

(I) can't complain. and (I have) nothing to complain about.

Inf. a response to a greeting inquiry asking how one is or how things are going for one. Sue: How are things going? Mary: I can't complain. Mary: Hi, Fred! How are you doing? Fred: Nothing to complain about.
See also: and, complain, nothing
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

can't complain

Used as a response meaning fairly good or well, to questions such as "How are you?" or "How is business?" For example, How've you been?-Can't complain. This term means that nothing serious is wrong. [Mid-1800s]
See also: complain
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

can't complain

Pretty good, in response to “How are things going?” This very modern-sounding phrase, which means one has nothing genuine to complain about (or at least will not admit it), comes from mid-nineteenth-century Britain. Eric Partridge cites an early example, R. S. Surtees’s Hawbuck Grange (1847), in which one character observes that time is passing lightly over another, who replies, “Middling—can’t complain.” Today it is a frequent response to inquiries about a business. See also fair to middling.
See also: complain
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • can't complain
  • can't complain. and nothing to complain about
  • nothing to complain about
  • How you been?
  • How've you been?
  • How about you?
  • dawg
  • old cobber
  • I'm cool
  • seen one, seen them all
References in periodicals archive
Not necessarily - but you must have complained to the firm by then.
PPI: Why you need to act now
We can complain about the country, the traffic and everything else, but the question is what does that do for our souls?
Complaints and complainers
As many as 207 cases were received from Islamabad Capital Territory with 160 complains and 47 Suo Moto notices while 185 cases from Khaber Pakhunkhwa including 129 complains and 56 Suo Moto notices, 42 from Balochistan from where just 14 compalins were received and 28 cases were taken as Suo Moto by the commission itself.
NCHR received 1241 complains in two years
"I wouldn't have complained if he'd used the term in a familial or affectionate way.
RAIL FIRM IN SEXISM ROW
Don't be embarrassed - it's your right to complain if you're not satisfied.
North East's biggest complainers revealed
Of these, 58% said they felt compelled to complain.
Families afraid to complain about care standards; relatives in homes suffering despite concerns
Complain to your local authority if you're not happy with how your complaint in dealt with.
KNOW your rights; How parents should handle a school that could do better
One in seven (14%) said they did not complain because they were worried about receiving worse treatment as a result.
Complaint system 'needs reforming' In Brief
I don't know about you but my problem is that, like Statler and Waldorf on the muppets, I can always find something to complain about.
Enjoy the summer - it'll be all over soon; JONOOK
POLICE 999 operators in the West Midlands have flushed out a time-wasting caller who dialled 999 to complain about work on a bathroom.
999 call over bad bathroom
Enlist the help of a cheerful friend to stop you when you complain and help you to see the positive in the situation.
10 Ways to Complain Less, Be Happier
YOU had mixed views about Ingrid Stone, who bags PS2,000 worth of freebies a year by complaining EVERYONE has a right to complain about bad services or products, but I think Ingrid takes it to the extreme.
It's no crime to whinge and whine; Letters
NUISANCE calls and texts cause misery to the lives of millions of people, yet less than a fifth of us officially complain about them.
CALL TIME ON PESTS; Cash point
People were most likely to complain about a product at 42 per cent, while 37 per cent complained about a general error being made.
Insurance companies told to pull socks up; RBS INSURANCE
Asadullah Khalid governor of the province promises the electricity problems would soon end however the locals complain power cut and outage in the city had made their lives miserable.
Kandahar to get eight new power generators: Khalid