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1. 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
    
2. (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense
   "stress is a vasoconstrictor";
   - tension, tenseness
    
3. Special emphasis attached to something
   "the stress was more on accuracy than on speed";
   - focus
    
4. 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
    
5. (physics) force that produces strain on a physical body
   "the intensity of stress is expressed in units of force divided by units of area"

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

Derived forms: stressed, stresses, stressing

Type of: accent, afflict, articulate, difficulty, emphasis, enounce, enunciate, evince, express, force, inflection, mental strain, nervous strain, pronounce, prosody, say, show, sound out, strain

Encyclopedia: Stress Stress, mechanical