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Definitions for: Stress
[n] the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch); "he put the stress on the wrong syllable"
[n] (physics) force that produces strain on a physical body; "the intensity of stress is expressed in units of force divided by units of area"
[n] (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense; "he suffered from fatigue and emotional tension"; "stress is a vasoconstrictor"
[n] difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension; "she endured the stresses and strains of life"; "he presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger"- R.J.Samuelson
[n] special emphasis attached to something; "the stress was more on accuracy than on speed"
[v] put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word"
[v] to stress, single out as important; "Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet."
[v] test the limits of; "You are trying my patience!"
Webster (1913) Definition: Stress, v. t.
1. To subject to phonetic stress; to accent.
2. To place emphasis on; to make emphatic; emphasize.
Stress, n. [Abbrev. fr. distress; or cf. OF. estrecier
to press, pinch, (assumed) LL. strictiare, fr. L. strictus.
See Distress.]
1. Distress. [Obs.]
Sad hersal of his heavy stress. --Spenser.
2. Pressure, strain; -- used chiefly of immaterial things;
except in mechanics; hence, urgency; importance; weight;
significance.
The faculties of the mind are improved by exercise,
yet they must not be put to a stress beyond their
strength. --Locke.
A body may as well lay too little as too much stress
upon a dream. --L'Estrange.
3. (Mech. & Physics) The force, or combination of forces,
which produces a strain; force exerted in any direction or
manner between contiguous bodies, or parts of bodies, and
taking specific names according to its direction, or mode
of action, as thrust or pressure, pull or tension, shear
or tangential stress. --Rankine.
Stress is the mutual action between portions of
matter. --Clerk
Maxwell.
4. (Pron.) Force of utterance expended upon words or
syllables. Stress is in English the chief element in
accent and is one of the most important in emphasis. See
Guide to pronunciation, [sect][sect] 31-35.
5. (Scots Law) Distress; the act of distraining; also, the
thing distrained.
Stress of voice, unusual exertion of the voice.
Stress of weather, constraint imposed by continued bad
weather; as, to be driven back to port by stress of
weather.
To lay stress upon, to attach great importance to; to
emphasize. ``Consider how great a stress is laid upon this
duty.'' --Atterbury.
To put stress upon, or To put to a stress, to strain.
Stress, v. t.
1. To press; to urge; to distress; to put to difficulties.
[R.] --Spenser.
2. To subject to stress, pressure, or strain.
Synonyms: accent, accent, accentuate, emphasis, emphasise, emphasize, focus, punctuate, strain, tenseness, tension, try
See Also: accent, accentuation, afflict, articulate, background, bear down, breaking point, breaking point, bring out, difficulty, downplay, drive home, emphasis, enounce, enunciate, evince, express, force, inflection, mental strain, nervous strain, pitch accent, play down, point up, press home, pronounce, prosody, rack, ram home, re-emphasise, re-emphasize, say, sentence stress, set off, show, sound out, strain, tension, tonic accent, underline, underscore, vasoconstrictive, vasoconstrictor, word accent, word stress
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