1. (physics) force that produces strain on a physical body
   "the intensity of stress is expressed in units of force divided by units of area"
    
2. (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense
   "stress is a vasoconstrictor";
   - tension, tenseness
    
3. Difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension
   "she endured the stresses and strains of life"; "he presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger";
   - strain
    
4. The relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)
   "he put the stress on the wrong syllable";
   - emphasis, accent
    
5. Special emphasis attached to something
   "the stress was more on accuracy than on speed";
   - focus

1. Single out as important; draw attention to (something)
   "Dr. Jones stresses exercise in addition to a change in diet";
   - emphasize, emphasise [Brit], punctuate, accent, accentuate
    
2. Put stress on; utter with an accent
   "In Farsi, you stress the last syllable of each word";
   - accent, accentuate
    
3. Test the limits of
   "You are stressing my patience!";
   - try, strain
    
4. To suffer from stress
   "She's been stressing about her upcoming exams"

Derived forms: stressing, stresses, stressed

Type of: accent, afflict, articulate, difficultness, difficulty, emphasis, enounce [archaic], enunciate, evince [formal], express, force, get, have, inflection, mental strain, nervous strain, pronounce, prosody, say, show, sound out, strain, suffer, sustain

Encyclopedia: Stress, mechanical