Wor"ry (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Worried (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Worrying.] [OE. worowen, wirien, to strangle, AS. wyrgan in āwyrgan; akin to D. worgen, wurgen, to strangle, OHG. wurgen, G. würgen, Lith. verszti, and perhaps to E. wring.]

1. To harass by pursuit and barking; to attack repeatedly; also, to tear or mangle with the teeth.

A hellhound that doth hunt us all to death; That dog that had his teeth before his eyes, To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood. Shak.

2. To harass or beset with importunity, or with care an anxiety; to vex; to annoy; to torment; to tease; to fret; to trouble; to plague. "A church worried with reformation." South.

Let them rail, And worry one another at their pleasure. Rowe.

Worry him out till he gives consent. Swift.

3. To harass with labor; to fatigue. [Colloq.]

Wor"ry , n.; pl.Worries (?). A state of undue solicitude; a state of disturbance from care and anxiety; vexation; anxiety; fret; as, to be in a worry. "The whir and worry of spindle and of loom." Sir T. Browne.

Wor"ry (?), v. i. To feel or express undue care and anxiety; to manifest disquietude or pain; to be fretful; to chafe; as, the child worries; the horse worries.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913