Definitions for distress
dɪˈstrɛsdis·tress

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

1. distress, hurt, sufferingnoun

   psychological suffering

   "the death of his wife caused him great distress"

2. distressnoun

   a state of adversity (danger or affliction or need)

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

3. distressnoun

   extreme physical pain

   "the patient appeared to be in distress"

4. distress, distraintverb

   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, distressverb

   bring into difficulties or distress, especially financial hardship

6. distressverb

   cause mental pain to

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

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. distressnoun

   (Cause of) discomfort.

2. distressnoun

   Serious danger.

3. distressnoun

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

4. distressverb

   To cause strain or anxiety to someone.

5. distressverb

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

6. distressverb

   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. Distressnoun

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

2. Distressnoun

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

3. Distressnoun

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

4. Distressnoun

   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. Distressnoun

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

6. Distressnoun

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

7. Distressnoun

   to compel by pain or suffering

8. Distressnoun

   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.)

Matched Categories

1. • Adversity
   • Pain
   • Trouble
   • Upset

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. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell:

   Even at a time of financial distress, it is still the responsibilities of these companies to do the reclamation that they signed up for.

2. Confucius:

   The superior man is satisfied and composed the mean man is always full of distress.

3. Bernie Sanders:

   It is preposterous to argue that as we expand Medicare for All that people with cancer and other illnesses will not get the care that they need, in fact, under Medicare for All, the good news is that we will end the horror of millions of people going into bankruptcy and financial distress simply because they need hospital care for serious conditions.

4. Marine Corps veteran Brian Vargas:

   The sound waves of fireworks are so triggering to many veterans, the impact of the emotional distress spills out into our lives, causing flashbacks and anger. We check and re-check our locks and stay up all night.

5. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell:

   Even at a time of financial distress, it is still the responsibilities of these companies to do the reclamation that they signed up for, we need to make sure that those companies are held accountable.

Images & Illustrations of distress

Popularity rank by frequency of use