stress: Meaning and Definition of

stress

1. importance or significance attached to a thing; emphasis: to lay stress upon good manners.
2. emphasis in the form of prominent relative loudness of a syllable or a word as a result of special effort in utterance.
3. 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.
1. the action on a body of any system of balanced forces whereby strain or deformation results.
2. the amount of stress, usually measured in pounds per square inch or in pascals.
3. a load, force, or system of forces producing a strain.
4. the internal resistance or reaction of an elastic body to the external forces applied to it.
5. the ratio of force to area.
7. 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. strong or straining exertion.

1. to lay stress on; emphasize.
2. to pronounce (a syllable or a word) with prominent loudness:Cf.(def. 18). Stress the first syllable of “runner.” Stress the second word in “put up with.”
3. to subject to stress or strain.
4. to subject to stress.

-stress

1. a feminine equivalent ofseamstress; songstress.