diffidence, quietness, retirement, timidity, modesty, reserve, shrinking, unobtrusiveness.
One _ought_ to do that which he is under moral obligation or in duty bound to do. _Ought_ is the stronger word, holding most closely to the sense of moral obligation, or sometimes of imperative logical necessity; _should_ may have the sense of moral obligation or may apply merely to propriety or expediency, as in the proverb, "The liar _should_ have a good memory," _i. e._, he will need it. _Ought_ is sometimes used of abstractions or inanimate things as indicating what the mind deems to be imperative or logically necessary in view of all the conditions; as, these goods _ought_ to go into that space; these arguments _ought_ to convince him; _should_ in such connections would be correct, but less emphatic. Compare DUTY.
care, control, management, surveillance, charge, direction, superintendence, watch, command, inspection, supervision, watchfulness.
A person may look over a matter in order to survey it carefully in its entirety, or he may look over it with no attention to the thing itself because his gaze and thought are concentrated on something beyond; _oversight_ has thus two contrasted senses, in the latter sense denoting inadvertent error or omission, and in the former denoting watchful _supervision_, commonly implying constant personal presence; _superintendence_ requires only so much of presence or communication as to know that the superintendent's wishes are carried out; the superintendent of a railroad will personally oversee very few of its operations; the railroad company has supreme _direction_ of all its affairs without _superintendence_ or _oversight_. _Control_ is used chiefly with reference to restraint or the power of restraint; a good horseman has a restless horse under perfect _control_; there is no high character without self-_control_. _Surveillance_ is an invidious term signifying watching with something of suspicion. Compare CARE; NEGLECT.
ache, distress, suffering, torture, agony, pang, throe, twinge, anguish, paroxysm, torment, wo(e).
_Pain_ is the most general term of this group, including all the others; _pain_ is a disturbing sensation from which nature revolts, resulting from some injurious external interference (as from a wound, a bruise, a harsh word, etc.), or from some lack of what one needs, craves, or cherishes (as, the _pain_ of hunger or bereavement), or from some abnormal action of bodily or mental functions (as, the _pains_ of disease, envy, or discontent). _Suffering_ is one of the severer forms of _pain_. The prick of a needle causes _pain_, but we should scarcely speak of it as _suffering_. _Distress_ is too strong a word for little hurts, too feeble for the intensest _suffering_, but commonly applied to some continuous or prolonged trouble or need; as, the _distress_ of a shipwrecked crew, or of a destitute family. _Ache_ is lingering _pain_, more or less severe; _pang_, a _pain_ short, sharp, intense, and perhaps repeated. We speak of the _pangs_ of hunger or of remorse. _Throe_ is a violent and thrilling _pain_. _Paroxysm_ applies to an alternately recurring and receding _pain_, which comes as it were in waves; the _paroxysm_ is the rising of the wave. _Torment_ and _torture_ are intense and terrible _sufferings_. _Agony_ and _anguish_ express the utmost _pain_ or _suffering_ of body or mind. _Agony_ of body is that with which the system struggles; _anguish_ that by which it is crushed.