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distress

distress is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 6 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.That which occasions suffering; painful situation; misfortune; affliction; misery. Affliction's sons are brothers in distress. Burns.
  2. 2.A state of danger or necessity; as, a ship in distress, from leaking, loss of spars, want of provisions or water, etc.
  3. 3.(Law) (a) 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. (b) The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction. Bouvier. Kent. Burrill. If he were not paid, he would straight go and take a distress of goods and cattle. Spenser. The distress thus taken must be proportioned to the thing distrained for. Blackstone. Abuse of distress. (Law) See under Abuse. See Affliction.
  4. 4.To cause pain or anguish to; to pain; to oppress with calamity; to afflict; to harass; to make miserable. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. 2 Cor. iv.
  5. 5.2. To compel by pain or suffering. Men who can neither be distressed nor won into a sacrifice of duty. A. Hamilton.
  6. 6.(Law) To seize for debt; to distrain.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Synonyms (Webster's 1913)

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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