Stress definition | Dictionary.com

stress

[stres]

–noun

1.	importance or significance attached to a thing; emphasis: to lay stress upon good manners.

2.	Phonetics. emphasis in the form of prominent relative loudness of a syllable or a word as a result of special effort in utterance.

3.	Prosody. accent or emphasis on syllables in a metrical pattern; beat.

4.	emphasis in melody, rhythm, etc.; beat.

5.	the physical pressure, pull, or other force exerted on one thing by another; strain.

Mechanics.

a.	the action on a body of any system of balanced forces whereby strain or deformation results.

b.	the amount of stress, usually measured in pounds per square inch or in pascals.

c.	a load, force, or system of forces producing a strain.

d.	the internal resistance or reaction of an elastic body to the external forces applied to it.

e.	the ratio of force to area.

7.	Physiology. a specific response by the body to a stimulus, as fear or pain, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.

8.	physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension: Worry over his job and his wife's health put him under a great stress.

9.	a situation, occurrence, or factor causing this: The stress of being trapped in the elevator gave him a pounding headache.

10.	Archaic. strong or straining exertion.

–verb (used with object)

11.	to lay stress on; emphasize.

12.	Phonetics. to pronounce (a syllable or a word) with prominent loudness: Stress the first syllable of “runner.” Stress the second word in “put up with.” Compare accent (def. 18).

13.	to subject to stress or strain.

14.	Mechanics. to subject to stress.

Origin:
1275–1325; (n.) ME stresse, aph. var. of distresse distress; (v.) deriv. of the n.

Related forms:

stressless, adjective

stress⋅less⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
8. anxiety, burden, pressure, worry.

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-stress

a feminine equivalent of -ster: seamstress; songstress.

Origin:
-st(e)r + -ess

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Stress

stress (strěs)

Importance, significance, or emphasis placed on something. See Synonyms at emphasis.
Linguistics
1. The relative force with which a sound or syllable is spoken.
2. The emphasis placed on the sound or syllable spoken most forcefully in a word or phrase.
3. The relative force of sound or emphasis given a syllable or word in accordance with a metrical pattern.
4. A syllable having strong relative emphasis in a metrical pattern.
5. An applied force or system of forces that tends to strain or deform a body.
6. The internal resistance of a body to such an applied force or system of forces.
7. A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression.
8. A stimulus or circumstance causing such a condition.
1. The relative force of sound or emphasis given a syllable or word in accordance with a metrical pattern.
2. A syllable having strong relative emphasis in a metrical pattern.
3. An applied force or system of forces that tends to strain or deform a body.
4. The internal resistance of a body to such an applied force or system of forces.
5. A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression.
6. A stimulus or circumstance causing such a condition.
Accent or a mark representing such emphasis or force.
Physics
1. An applied force or system of forces that tends to strain or deform a body.
2. The internal resistance of a body to such an applied force or system of forces.
3. A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression.
4. A stimulus or circumstance causing such a condition.
1. A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression.
2. A stimulus or circumstance causing such a condition.
A state of extreme difficulty, pressure, or strain: "He presided over the economy during the period of its greatest stress and danger" (Robert J. Samuelson).

tr.v. stressed, stress·ing, stress·es

To place emphasis on: stressed basic fire safety.
To give prominence to (a syllable or word) in pronouncing or in accordance with a metrical pattern.
To subject to physical or mental pressure, tension, or strain.
To subject to mechanical pressure or force.
To construct so as to withstand a specified stress.

Phrasal Verb(s):
stress out Informal To subject to or undergo extreme stress, as from working too much.

[Middle English stresse, hardship, partly from destresse (from Old French; see distress) and partly from Old French estrece, narrowness, oppression (from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere, to draw tight; see strait).]

STRESS (strěs)

n. A computer language designed for use in solving structural analysis problems in civil engineering.

[str(uctural) e(ngineering) s(ystems) s(olver).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Stress

Stress\, v. t. 1. To subject to phonetic stress; to accent.

2. To place emphasis on; to make emphatic; emphasize.

Stress

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

Stress\, v. t. 1. To press; to urge; to distress; to put to difficulties. [R.] --Spenser.

2. To subject to stress, pressure, or strain.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Stress

Spanish: tensión, estrés,

German: der Streß,

Japanese: ストレス

More Translations »

stress

In physics, the internal resistance of an object to an external force that tends to deform it.

stress

A physical factor, such as injury, or mental state, such as anxiety, that disturbs the body's normal state of functioning. Stress may contribute to the development of some illnesses, including heart disease and cancer.

Note: The term stress also refers to the physical and mental state produced in the body when it is influenced by such factors: “The stress of the new job was too much for Tim, so he requested reassignment to his old position in the company.”

stress (n.)

c.1303, "hardship, adversity, force, pressure," in part a shortening of M.Fr. destresse (see distress), in part from O.Fr. estrece "narrowness, oppression," from V.L. *strictia, from L. strictus "compressed," pp. of stringere "draw tight" (see strain (v.)). The purely psychological sense is attested from 1942.

stress (v.)

c.1303, "to subject (someone) to force or compulsion," from the source of stress (n.). The fig. meaning "put emphasis on" is first recorded 1896, from notion of laying pressure on something by relying on it.

Main Entry: ¹stress
Pronunciation: 'stres
Function: noun
1 a : a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushesagainst, or tends to compress or twist another body or body part; especially : the intensity of this mutual force commonly expressed in pounds per square inch b : thedeformation caused in a body by such a force
2 a : a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation b : a state of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium
3 : the force exerted between teeth of the upper and lower jawsduring mastication

Main Entry: ²stress
Function: transitive verb
: to subject to stress stressed by surgery>

stress (strěs)
n.

An applied force or system of forces that tends to strain or deform a body.
The resisting force set up in a body as a result of an externally applied force.
A physical or psychological stimulus that can produce mental tension or physiological reactions that may lead to illness.

stress (strěs) Pronunciation Key

The force per unit area applied to an object. Objects subject to stress tend to become distorted or deformed. Compare strain. See also axial stress , shear stress., See more at Hooke's law.
1. A physiologic reaction by an organism to an uncomfortable or unfamiliar physical or psychological stimulus. Biological changes result from stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, including a heightened state of alertness, anxiety, increased heart rate, and sweating.
2. The stimulus or circumstance causing such a reaction.

STRESS
STRuctual Engineering Systems Solver.
A system for structural analysis problems in Civil Engineering. STRESS was superseded by STRUDL.
["STRESS: A User's Manual", S.J. Fenves et al, MIT Press 1964].
[Sammet 1969, p. 612].
(1995-01-31)

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