stress

stress
I. noun Etymology: Middle English stresse stress, distress, short for destresse — more at distress Date: 14th century 1. constraining force or influence: as a. a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against, 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. the deformation caused in a body by such a force c. a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation d. a state resulting from a stress; especially one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium <
job-related stress
>
e. strain, pressure <
the environment is under stress to the point of collapse — Joseph Shoben
>
2. emphasis, weight <
lay stress on a point
>
3. archaic intense effort or exertion 4. intensity of utterance given to a speech sound, syllable, or word producing relative loudness 5. a. relative force or prominence of sound in verse b. a syllable having relative force or prominence 6. accent 6a II. verb Date: 1545 transitive verb 1. to subject to physical or psychological stress <
stressing the equipment
>
<
this traffic is stressing me out
>
2. to subject to phonetic stress ; accent 3. to lay stress on ; emphasize <
stressed the importance of teamwork
>
intransitive verb to feel stress <
stressing about the big exam
>
— often used with out

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • STRESS — Le stress est un terme emprunté à la physique. Ce terme désigne la contrainte exercée sur un matériau. Normalement, un matériau est capable de résister à toute une série de contraintes modérées. Mais, si la contrainte est excessive ou si le… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Stress — (engl. für „Druck, Anspannung“; lat. stringere: „anspannen“) bezeichnet zum einen durch spezifische äußere Reize (Stressoren) hervorgerufene psychische und physische Reaktionen bei Lebewesen, die zur Bewältigung besonderer Anforderungen befähigen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • stress — [stres] noun [uncountable] continuous feelings of worry about your work or personal life, that prevent you from relaxing: • a stress related illness (= one caused by stress ) • She s been under stress at work. • a stress management consultant …   Financial and business terms

  • Stress — may refer to: Mechanical * Stress (physics), the average amount of force exerted per unit area. * Yield stress, the stress at which a material begins to deform plastically. * Compressive stress, the stress applied to materials resulting in their… …   Wikipedia

  • Stress — Stress, n. [Abbrev. fr. distress; or cf. OF. estrecier to press, pinch, (assumed) LL. strictiare, fr. L. strictus. See {Distress}.] 1. Distress. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Sad hersal of his heavy stress. Spenser. [1913 Webster] 2. Pressure, strain;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • stress — n 1 Stress, strain, pressure, tension are comparable terms when they apply to the action or effect of force exerted within or upon a thing. Stress and strain are the comprehensive terms of this group and are sometimes used interchangeably {put… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • stress — strèss s.m.inv. 1. TS psic. reazione emozionale a una serie di stimoli esterni che mettono in moto risposte fisiologiche e psicologiche di natura adattiva | impropr., ogni stimolo che induce stress 2. CO colloq., tensione nervosa, logorio… …   Dizionario italiano

  • stress — [stres] n. [ME stresse < OFr estresse < VL * strictia < L strictus,STRICT; also, in some senses, aphetic < DISTRESS] 1. strain or straining force; specif., a) force exerted upon a body, that tends to strain or deform its shape b) the… …   English World dictionary

  • Stress — (str[e^]s), v. t. 1. To press; to urge; to distress; to put to difficulties. [R.] Spenser. [1913 Webster] 2. To subject to stress, pressure, or strain. [1913 Webster] 3. To subject to phonetic stress; to accent. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] 4. To place… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • stress — [n1] emphasis accent, accentuation, beat, force, import, importance, significance, urgency, weight; concepts 65,668 Ant. ignorance, unimportance stress [n2] physical or mental pressure affliction, agony, alarm, albatross*, anxiety,… …   New thesaurus

  • stress|or — «STREHS uhr», noun. Psychology. any stimulus that produces stress or strain: »Experimental stressors, for obvious reasons, are very mild, the most usual being distracting or painful noises, electric shocks, the stress of examinations (New… …   Useful english dictionary

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