| stress | |
| 1. n. (biology) A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism. | |
| 2. n. (biology) Aggression toward an organism resulting in a response in an attempt to restore previous conditions. | |
| 3. n. (physics) The internal distribution of force across a small boundary per unit area of that boundary (pressure) within a body. It causes strain or deformation and is typically symbolised by σ or τ. | |
| 4. n. (physics) Force externally applied to a body which cause internal stress within the body. | |
| 5. n. Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal. | |
| Go easy on him, he's been under a lot of stress lately. | |
| 6. n. (phonetics) The emphasis placed on a syllable of a word. | |
| Some people put the stress on the first syllable of “controversy”; others put it on the second. | |
| 7. n. Emphasis placed on words in speaking. | |
| 8. n. Emphasis placed on a particular point in an argument or discussion (whether spoken or written). | |
| 9. n. obsolete form of distress | |
| 10. n. (Scotland, legal) distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained. | |
| 11. v. To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain. | |
| 12. v. To apply emotional pressure to (a person or animal). | |
| 13. v. (informal) To suffer stress; to worry or be agitated. | |
| 14. v. To emphasise (a syllable of a word). | |
| “Emphasis” is stressed on the first syllable, but “emphatic” is stressed on the second. | |
| 15. v. To emphasise (words in speaking). | |
| 16. v. To emphasise (a point) in an argument or discussion. | |
| I must stress that this information is given in strict confidence. | |
