Dictionary Definition
stress
Noun
1 the relative prominence of a syllable or
musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch); "he put
the stress on the wrong syllable" [syn: emphasis, accent]
2 (psychology) a state of mental or emotional
strain or suspense; "he suffered from fatigue and emotional
tension"; "stress is a vasoconstrictor" [syn: tension, tenseness]
3 (physics) force that produces strain on a
physical body; "the intensity of stress is expressed in units of
force divided by units of area"
4 special emphasis attached to something; "the
stress was more on accuracy than on speed" [syn: focus]
5 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 [syn: strain]
Verb
1 to stress, single out as important; "Dr. Jones
emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet" [syn: emphasize, emphasise, punctuate, accent, accentuate]
2 put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi,
you accent the last syllable of each word" [syn: accent, accentuate]
User Contributed Dictionary
see Stress
English
Pronunciation
- /stɹɛs/
-
- Rhymes: -ɛs
Noun
- In the context of "countable|physics": The internal distribution of force per unit area (pressure) within a body reacting to applied forces which causes strain or deformation and is typically symbolised by σ
- In the context of "countable|physics": externally applied to a body which cause internal stress within the body.
- Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal.
- In the context of "uncountable|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.
- Emphasis placed on words in speaking.
- Emphasis placed on a particular point in an argument or discussion (whether spoken or written).
Synonyms
- italbrac-colon phonetics accent, emphasis
- italbrac-colon on words in speaking emphasis
- italbrac-colon on a point emphasis
Translations
force
- Arabic: (ijhād)
- Chinese: 壓力, 压力 (yālì)
- Dutch: spanning
- Finnish: rasitus
- French: tension
- German: Spannung
- Greek: ένταση (é[n]dasi) , σφοδρότητα (sfoðrótita) , ισχύς (isçís)
- Hungarian: erő, nyomás
- Italian: tensione
- Japanese: ストレス (sutoresu)
- Korean: 압박 (apbak)
- Polish: naprężenie
- Portuguese: tensão
- Russian: напряжение (naprjažénije)
- Spanish: tensión
- Swedish: spänning
emotional pressure
on a syllable
when speaking
on a point in an argument
Verb
- To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain.
- To apply emotional pressure to (a person or animal).
- To emphasise (a syllable of a word).
- “Emphasis” is stressed on the first syllable, but “emphatic” is stressed on the second.
- To emphasise (words in speaking).
- To emphasise (a point) in an argument or discussion.
- I must stress that this information is given in strict confidence.
Translations
apply force to, causing strain
- German: beanspruchen
apply emotional pressure to
- German: stressen
emphasise (a syllable)
- German: betonen
emphasise (words in speaking)
emphasise (a point)
Synonyms
- italbrac-colon phonetics emphasise/emphasize
- italbrac-colon on words in speaking emphasise/emphasize
- italbrac-colon on a point emphasise/emphasize, underline
Derived terms
Extensive Definition
Stress may refer to:
Mechanical
- Stress (physics)
- Yield stress in mechanical engineering and rheology
Biological
- Stress
(medicine), medical or psychological stress; types of medical
stress include:
- Acute stress, short term stress which leads to that particular days distress/discomfort
- Chronic stress, persistent stress which can lead to illness and mental disorder
- Eustress, positive stress that can lead to improved long-term functioning
- Workplace stress, stress caused by employment
Music
- Accent (music)
- Stress (band), an early '80s melodic rock band from San Diego
- Stress (Neo-Psychedelic band), from the late 1980's
Other
- Stress (game), card game
- Stress (linguistics), phonological use of prominence in language
stress in German: Stress (Begriffsklärung)
stress in French: Stress (homonymie)
stress in Korean: 스트레스
stress in Icelandic: Streita
stress in Italian: Stress
stress in Hebrew: מאמץ
stress in Japanese: ストレス
stress in Slovak: Stres
stress in Ukrainian: Стрес
stress in Chinese: 壓力
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Alexandrine, accent, accentuate, accentuation, ache, aching, adverse circumstances,
adversity, affliction, aggravation, ambivalence, ambivalence of
impulse, amphibrach,
amphimacer, anacrusis, anapest, anguish, annoyance, antispast, anxiety, arsis, assault, bacchius, bear, bear upon, bearing, beat, belabor, blight, blow, boost, buck, bull, bulldoze, bummer, bump, bump against, bunt, burden, butt, butt against, cadence, caesura, care, catalexis, chloriamb, chloriambus, clutch, colon, compulsion, concern, concernment, conflict, consequence, consequentiality,
consideration,
constraint, counterpoint, cram, cramp, cretic, crisis, cross, crowd, crunch, curse, cut, dactyl, dactylic hexameter,
decompensation,
diaeresis, difficulties, difficulty, dig, dimeter, dipody, distress, disturb, dochmiac, dolor, downer, drive, dwell on, elbow, elegiac, elegiac couplet,
elegiac pentameter, emergency, emotional shock,
emphasis, emphasize, epitrite, excellence, exigency, external frustration,
feature, feminine
caesura, focus on, foot,
force, forcefulness, frustration, give emphasis
to, goad, grief, harass, hard knocks, hard life,
hard lot, hardcase,
hardship, harp on,
haul, head, heave, heptameter, heptapody, heroic couplet,
hexameter, hexapody, high order, high
pressure, high rank, highlight, hurt, hurtle, hustle, iamb, iambic, iambic pentameter,
ictus, imperativeness, import, importance, impulse, impulsion, injury, insistence, interest, ionic, irk, irritation, italicize, jab, jam, jingle, jog, joggle, jolt, jostle, lesion, level of stress, lilt, mark, masculine caesura, materiality, measure, mental shock, mental
strain, merit, meter, metrical accent, metrical
foot, metrical group, metrical unit, metrics, metron, molossus, moment, mora, movement, nasty blow, nervous
strain, nervous tension, note, nudge, numbers, overaccentuate, overemphasize, overexert, overexertion, overextend, overextension, overstrain, overstress, overtax, overtaxing, paeon, pain, pang, paramountcy, passion, pentameter, pentapody, period, pile drive, pinch, place emphasis on, play up,
plight, point up,
poke, precedence, predicament, preeminence, press, pressure, primacy, primary stress,
priority, proceleusmatic, prod, prominence, prosodics, prosody, psychological stress,
pull, punch, punctuate, push, pyrrhic, quantity, rack, ram, ram down, rash impulse,
rattle, rhythm, rhythmic pattern,
rhythmical stress, rigor,
rub in, run, run against,
sea of troubles, secondary stress, self-importance, shake, shock, shoulder, shove, significance, sore, sore spot, spasm, spondee, spotlight, sprung rhythm,
star, strain, strain every nerve,
straining, stress
accent, stress and strain, stress of life, stress pattern, stressfulness, stretch, stroke, suffering, superiority, supremacy, sweat blood,
swing, syzygy, tamp, tautness, tax, taxing, tender spot, tense, tenseness, tension, tertiary stress,
tetrameter, tetrapody, tetraseme, thesis, throes, thrust, torque, torsion, trauma, traumatism, trial, tribrach, tribulation, trimeter, tripody, triseme, trochee, trouble, troubles, try, tug, underline, underscore, upset, urge, urgency, vale of tears, value, vicissitude, weak stress,
weight, worry, worth, wound, wrench