worry someone sick

worry someone sick (third-person singular simple present worries someone sick, present participle worrying someone sick, simple past and past participle worried someone sick)

1. (informal) To cause someone to worry to a great degree.
   • 1990, Susan Beth Pfeffer, Sybil at Sixteen‎:

     Frankly, it worries me sick to even think about it.

2. (informal, reflexive) To worry to a great degree.

   Synonym: tie oneself in knots

   to worry oneself sick

• worried sick (originally a passive past participle, now used adjectivally)

• sick with worry

• “worry (oneself) sick”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “worried sick”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “worried sick” (US) / “worried sick” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.