growing pains: Meaning and Definition of

grow'ing pains"

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. dull, quasi-rheumatic pains of varying degree in the limbs during childhood and adolescence, often popularly associated with the process of growing.
  2. emotional difficulties experienced during adolescence and preadulthood.
  3. difficulties attending any new project or any rapid development of an existing project: a city plagued with growing pains.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.