difficulty

noun

1. 1

   an effort that is inconvenient

   I went to a lot of trouble

   he won without any trouble

2. 2

   the quality of being difficult

   they agreed about the difficulty of the climb

3. 3

   a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result

   serious difficulties were encountered in obtaining a pure reagent

4. 4

   a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome

   grappling with financial difficulties