Library / English Dictionary

STRESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)

Example:

he put the stress on the wrong syllable

Synonyms:

accent; emphasis; stress

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("stress" is a kind of...):

inflection; prosody (the patterns of stress and intonation in a language)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stress"):

accentuation (the use or application of an accent; the relative prominence of syllables in a phrase or utterance)

pitch accent; tonic accent (emphasis that results from pitch rather than loudness)

word accent; word stress (the distribution of stresses within a polysyllabic word)

sentence stress (the distribution of stresses within a sentence)

Derivation:

stress (put stress on; utter with an accent)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(physics) force that produces strain on a physical body

Example:

the intensity of stress is expressed in units of force divided by units of area

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("stress" is a kind of...):

force ((physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stress"):

tension ((physics) a stress that produces an elongation of an elastic physical body)

breaking point (the degree of tension or stress at which something breaks)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense

Example:

stress is a vasoconstrictor

Synonyms:

stress; tenseness; tension

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("stress" is a kind of...):

mental strain; nervous strain; strain ((psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress)

Domain category:

psychological science; psychology (the science of mental life)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stress"):

yips (nervous tension that causes an athlete to fail (especially causes golfers to miss short putts))

breaking point ((psychology) stress at which a person breaks down or a situation becomes crucial)

Derivation:

stress (test the limits of)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension

Example:

he presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger

Synonyms:

strain; stress

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("stress" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome)

Derivation:

stress (test the limits of)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Special emphasis attached to something

Example:

the stress was more on accuracy than on speed

Synonyms:

focus; stress

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("stress" is a kind of...):

accent; emphasis (special importance or significance)

Derivation:

stress (to stress, single out as important)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put stress on; utter with an accent

Example:

In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word

Synonyms:

accent; accentuate; stress

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "stress" is one way to...):

articulate; enounce; enunciate; pronounce; say; sound out (speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

stress (the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch))

Sense 2

Meaning:

To stress, single out as important

Example:

Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet

Synonyms:

accent; accentuate; emphasise; emphasize; punctuate; stress

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "stress" is one way to...):

evince; express; show (give expression to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stress"):

emphasise; emphasize; underline; underscore (give extra weight to (a communication))

drive home; press home; ram home (make clear by special emphasis and try to convince somebody of something)

point up (emphasize, especially by identification)

topicalize (emphasize by putting heavy stress on or by moving to the front of the sentence)

bear down (pay special attention to)

re-emphasise; re-emphasize (emphasize anew)

bring out; set off (direct attention to, as if by means of contrast)

background; downplay; play down (understate the importance or quality of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

stress (special emphasis attached to something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Test the limits of

Example:

You are trying my patience!

Synonyms:

strain; stress; try

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "stress" is one way to...):

afflict (cause great unhappiness for; distress)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stress"):

rack (stretch to the limits)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

stress ((psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense)

stress (difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension)

stressor (any agent that causes stress to an organism)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A protein complex that is involved in the both serine/threonine phosphorylation and the regulation of protein synthesis in response to cellular stress.

(mTORC1, NCI Thesaurus)

A drug used to treat symptoms of anxiety, such as feelings of fear, dread, uneasiness, and muscle tightness, that may occur as a reaction to stress.

(Antianxiety agent, NCI Dictionary)

This allele, which encodes NCK-interacting protein with SH3 domain, is involved in signal transduction and stress fiber formation.

(NCKIPSD wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene plays a role in stress fiber formation.

(NCKIPSD Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene plays a role in cellular stress responses.

(NDRG1 Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

He laid a heavy hand on my shoulder, and leaning on me with some stress, limped to his horse.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Neurofeedback may help cancer patients deal with the stress and mental side effects of chemotherapy.

(Neurofeedback, NCI Dictionary)

This protein plays a role in both stress fiber formation and signaling.

(NCK-Interacting Protein with SH3 Domain, NCI Thesaurus)

Alterations in Ca2+ homeostasis and accumulation of misfolded proteins in the ER cause ER stress.

(Apoptosis Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

This cycle is known as thermal stress fracturing.

(NASA's OSIRIS-REx Explains Bennu Mystery Particles, NASA)