difficulty/ˋdIfəkəltI; ˈdIfIk$lti/n plural difficulties 1 [U] when something is not easy to do 困难: have difficulty (in) doing sth Did you have difficulty finding the house? 你找那房子有困难吗?with/without difficulty She stood up with difficulty. 她费力地站起来。2 [U] a situation in which you have problems 困境: the country's severe economic difficulties 国家严峻的经济困难in difficulty Many families are in financial difficulty. 很多家庭都有经济上的困难。3 [C] a problem 难题﹐难事: We’ve had a few difficulties recently. 最近我们碰到了一些难题。get/run into difficulties The boat ran into difficulties in rough seas. 那艘小船在汹涌的大海里遇到了麻烦。