Definitions for distress
dɪˈstrɛsdis·tress

Princeton's WordNet(3.67 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. distress, hurt, suffering(noun)

   psychological suffering

   "the death of his wife caused him great distress"

2. distress(noun)

   a state of adversity (danger or affliction or need)

   "a ship in distress"; "she was the classic maiden in distress"

3. distress(noun)

   extreme physical pain

   "the patient appeared to be in distress"

4. distress, distraint(verb)

   the seizure and holding of property as security for payment of a debt or satisfaction of a claim

   "Originally distress was a landlord's remedy against a tenant for unpaid rents or property damage but now the landlord is given a landlord's lien"

5. straiten, distress(verb)

   bring into difficulties or distress, especially financial hardship

6. distress(verb)

   cause mental pain to

   "The news of her child's illness distressed the mother"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. distress(Noun)

   (Cause of) discomfort.

2. distress(Noun)

   Serious danger.

3. distress(Noun)

   A seizing of property without legal process to force payment of a debt.

4. distress(Verb)

   To cause strain or anxiety to someone.

5. distress(Verb)

   To retain someone's property against the payment of a debt; to distrain.

6. distress(Verb)

   To treat an object, such as an antique, to give it an appearance of age.

   She distressed the new media cabinet so that it fit with the other furniture in the room.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Distress(noun)

   extreme pain or suffering; anguish of body or mind; as, to suffer distress from the gout, or from the loss of friends

2. Distress(noun)

   that which occasions suffering; painful situation; misfortune; affliction; misery

3. Distress(noun)

   a state of danger or necessity; as, a ship in distress, from leaking, loss of spars, want of provisions or water, etc

4. Distress(noun)

   the act of distraining; the taking of a personal chattel out of the possession of a wrongdoer, by way of pledge for redress of an injury, or for the performance of a duty, as for nonpayment of rent or taxes, or for injury done by cattle, etc

5. Distress(noun)

   the thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction

6. Distress(noun)

   to cause pain or anguish to; to pain; to oppress with calamity; to afflict; to harass; to make miserable

7. Distress(noun)

   to compel by pain or suffering

8. Distress(noun)

   to seize for debt; to distrain

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Distress

   Distress is a 1995 science fiction novel by Australian writer Greg Egan.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Distress

   dis-tres′, n. extreme pain: that which causes suffering: calamity: misfortune: (arch.) compulsion: act of distraining goods.—v.t. to afflict with pain or suffering: to harass: to grieve: to distrain.—p.adj. Distressed′.—adj. Distress′ful.—adv. Distress′fully.—n. Distress′fulness.—p.adj. Distress′ing.—adv. Distress′ingly. [O. Fr. destresse—L. distringĕre, districtum, to pull asunder.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. distress

   A term used when a ship requires immediate assistance from unlooked-for damage or danger. (See SIGNAL OF DISTRESS.)

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'distress' in Nouns Frequency: #2292

How to pronounce distress?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say distress in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of distress in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of distress in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of distress in a Sentence

1. Rhea Boyd:

   Whether from social media accounts, conversations with peers or caregivers, overheard conversations, or the distress they witness in the faces of those they love, children know what is going on, and without the guidance and validation of their caregivers, they may be navigating their feelings alone.

2. Karamjit Singh:

   Prices have come off substantially and it's probably the one segment of the market that's facing some degree of distress, all in all prices have come off 20% to 30% from their peak in 2007.

3. Dominik Bach:

   When we talk about reducing fear memory, we’re not talking about deleting the memory of what actually happened, the participants may not forget that they received a shock when the screen was red, but they ‘forget’ to be instinctively scared when they next see a red screen. Learning to fear threats is an important ability … helping us to avoid dangers. (But) over-prediction of threat can cause tremendous suffering and distress in anxiety disorders such as PTSD.

4. Robert Biswas-Diener:

   A 50:50 ratio is probably not good enough. All that emotional distress is telling you that the circumstances of your life need attention.

5. Shannon Doerhoff:

   He was agonal breathing, at that point, I didn't know. I knew he was in respiratory distress, but I didn't know what was happening.

Images & Illustrations of distress

Popularity rank by frequency of use