English dictionary



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English noun: stress

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


SamplesHe put the stress on the wrong syllable.


Synonymsaccent, emphasis


Broader (hypernym)inflection, prosody


Narrower (hyponym)accentuation, pitch accent, sentence stress, tonic accent, word accent, word stress

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


SamplesHe suffered from fatigue and emotional tension.
Stress is a vasoconstrictor.


Synonymstenseness, tension


Broader (hypernym)mental strain, nervous strain, strain


Narrower (hyponym)breaking point, yips


Domain categorypsychological science, psychology

3. stress (state) special emphasis attached to something


SamplesThe stress was more on accuracy than on speed.


Synonymsfocus


Broader (hypernym)accent, emphasis

4. stress (state) difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension


SamplesShe endured the stresses and strains of life.
He presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger.


Synonymsstrain


Broader (hypernym)difficulty

5. stress (phenomenon) (physics) force that produces strain on a physical body


SamplesThe intensity of stress is expressed in units of force divided by units of area.


Broader (hypernym)force


Narrower (hyponym)breaking point, tension


Domain categorynatural philosophy, physics


English verb: stress

1. stress (communication) to stress, single out as important


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


Synonymsaccent, accentuate, emphasise, emphasize, punctuate


Pattern of useSomebody ----s something.
Something ----s something.
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE


Broader (hypernym)evince, express, show


Narrower (hyponym)background, bear down, bring out, downplay, drive home, emphasise, emphasize, play down, point up, press home, ram home, re-emphasise, re-emphasize, set off, topicalize, underline, underscore

2. stress (communication) put stress on; utter with an accent


SamplesIn Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word.


Synonymsaccent, accentuate


Pattern of useSomebody ----s something


Broader (hypernym)articulate, enounce, enunciate, pronounce, say, sound out

3. stress (emotion) test the limits of


SamplesYou are trying my patience!.


Synonymsstrain, try


Pattern of useSomebody ----s something.
Something ----s something


Broader (hypernym)afflict


Narrower (hyponym)rack









Based on WordNet 3.0 copyright © Princeton University.
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