Ado, 1) to do, to deal: “no court, no father nor no more a. with that simple nothing,” Cymb. III, 4, 134.
2) bustle, troublesome business (cf. to do in Hml. II, 2, 369): let us follow, to see the end of this a. Shr. V, I, 147. “here's a., to lock up honesty,” Wint. II, 2, 9. “here's such a.” Wint. II, 2, 9 cf. the title of the comedy Much ado.
3) more tumult and show of business than the affair is worth: “he makes me no more a. but whips me out of the chamber,” Gent. IV, 4, 31. “show the inside of your purse, and no more a.” Wint. IV, 4, 834. H4A II, 4, 223. H6A III, 2, 101. H6C IV, 5, 27. H8 V, 3, 159. Tit. II, 1, 98 “(this a.).” IV, 3, 102. Rom. III, 4, 23.
4) pains, difficulty: “till they have singled with much a. the cold fault cleanly out,” Ven. 694. “what a. here is to bring you together,” Wiv. IV, 5, 128. Merch. I, 1, 7. Wint. I, 2, 213. R2 V, 5, 74. Lr. IV, 5, 2.
Shakespeare Lexicon. Alexander Schmidt. Berlin. Georg Reimer. 1902.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
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