See Also: distress(1)(dictionary)
Distress(medicine)
distress(2)(dictionary)
Financial distress(finance)
Fetal distress(health)
Financial distress(money)
Distress Sale(money)
Emotional Distress(law)
distress 1, noun(dictionary)
foetal distress(medicine)

distress(2) (iou)



distress verb trans. LME.
[Anglo-Norman destresser, Old French destrecier, formed as DISTRESS noun.]
Subject to severe strain or pressure; exhaust, esp. by extreme physical exertion; afflict. LME.
Goldsmith The..servants of the crown..distressed their private fortunes to gratify their sovereign. Quiller-Couch Their horses began to be distressed in the heavy sand.
Crush in battle, overwhelm, coerce; harass in war. LME-L18.
Constrain by force or the infliction of pain etc. (to do, into, out of). Now rare. LME.
A. Hamilton Men who can neither be distressed nor won into a sacrifice of duty.
Cause trouble, pain, anguish, or hardship to; vex, make unhappy. Now chiefly refl. or pass. LME.
Oxford English Dictionary Do not distress yourself about the child, he is safe. J. C. Powys Henry's crying..rose to a pitch that was distressing to hear.
Steal (belongings); plunder (a person). Long rare or obsolete. LME.
Law. Levy a distress on; distrain on. LME.
Damage (a piece of furniture, fabric, etc.) deliberately to simulate the effects of age and wear. M20.
distressingly adverb in a distressing manner, painfully L18.