- (n.) Extreme pain or suffering; anguish of body or mind; as, to suffer distress from the gout or from the loss of friends.
- (n.) That which occasions suffering; painful situation; misfortune; affliction; misery.
- (n.) To cause pain or anguish to; to pain; to oppress with calamity; to afflict; to harass; to make miserable.
- (n.) To compel by pain or suffering.
- (n.) The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction.
- (n.) A state of danger or necessity; as, a ship in distress, from leaking, loss of spars, want of provisions or water, etc.
- (n.) To seize for debt; to distrain.
- (n.) 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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). distress. Retrieved September 24, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/distress/definitions/1999423 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "distress" http://smartdefine.org/distress/definitions/1999423 (accessed September 24, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, distress, Smart Define, viewed 24 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/distress/definitions/1999423>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "distress" 27 May 2011. Web. 24 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/distress/definitions/1999423> |