stresses
stresses — noun
- stressessingular
- stressesesplural
1. a feeling of worry or mental pressure that comes from difficult situations, such
a feeling of worry or mental pressure that comes from difficult situations, such as having too much work, money problems, or personal troubles
The weeks before her final exams caused Ayana a lot of stress.
cause + stress — verb-object collocation
Marta felt her stress levels go up whenever she had to give a speech in front of the class.
Long hours at work without a proper break can lead to serious stress-related health problems.
stress-related — compound adjective
Learning to manage stress through exercise and good sleep helped Gabriel feel much calmer.
manage stress — verb-object collocation
The stress of moving to a new country while learning a different language was hard for the Han family.
- cause stress
- feel stress
- manage stress
- reduce stress
- deal with stress
- stress levels
- stress-related
- under stress
- stress management
- calm
a state free from worry or agitation
- relaxation
the opposite of mental tension
Usage Note
Often uncountable. Frequently paired with verbs like cause, feel, manage, reduce, deal with.
Common Mistakes
2. a difficult condition in which a system, machine, organization, or resource is p
a difficult condition in which a system, machine, organization, or resource is pushed to work harder than it is designed for, often because there is too much demand
The city's public transport system is under huge stress during the morning rush hour.
under stress — prepositional phrase
Plugging too many kitchen appliances into one socket places stress on the electrical wiring.
place stress on — verb-object-preposition collocation
The hospital's emergency room faced extreme stress during the winter flu outbreak.
Financial stress on the local government grew as more people needed help from public services.
Heavy rain put enormous stress on the old drainage system, causing floods in several streets.
put stress on — verb-object-preposition collocation
- under stress
- place stress on
- put stress on
- face stress
- cause stress
- extreme stress
- enormous stress
- ease
a state where the system operates without difficulty
Usage Note
Subject is usually a system, network, organization, or piece of infrastructure. Do not confuse with sense 1 (MENTAL TENSION), where the subject is a person's emotional state.
Common Mistakes
3. the greater loudness or force given to a particular syllable in a word, or to a
the greater loudness or force given to a particular syllable in a word, or to a particular word in a sentence, when speaking
In English, the main stress in the word 'banana' falls on the second syllable.
stress falls on [syllable] — verb-preposition pattern
When Anong learned the word 'photography', she had to practice where to put the stress.
put the stress on — verb-object-preposition
Changing which word you stress in a sentence can completely alter its meaning.
Teachers often mark the stress pattern on new vocabulary lists to help students pronounce words correctly.
stress pattern — noun compound
Putting stress on the wrong syllable can make a word very difficult for native speakers to understand.
- word stress
- sentence stress
- main stress
- primary stress
- stress pattern
- stress falls on
- put stress on
- stress syllable
Usage Note
Can be count or uncountable. Describes both the general phenomenon (uncountable) and specific instances (countable, e.g. 'primary and secondary stresses').
Common Mistakes
4. a physical force that presses, pulls, or twists an object or material, sometimes
a physical force that presses, pulls, or twists an object or material, sometimes changing its shape or causing damage over time
Engineers calculate the stress that a bridge must withstand during strong winds and heavy traffic.
withstand stress — technical collocation
The metal beam cracked because it could not handle the stress of the heavy load above it.
Earthquakes create enormous stress in the ground, which can cause buildings to shake and collapse.
create stress — verb-object collocation
When you bend a plastic ruler, the stress is greatest at the point where it curves the most.
The architect designed the roof to spread stress evenly across all the supporting walls beneath it.
spread stress — verb-object collocation
- tensile stress
- compressive stress
- shear stress
- withstand stress
- handle stress
- create stress
- spread stress
- stress point
- stress fracture
Usage Note
Technical term used in physics and engineering. Often paired with strain (the resulting deformation). Distinguish from sense 1 (MENTAL TENSION), which refers to emotional rather than physical force.
Common Mistakes
5. special importance or attention given to a particular idea, rule, or activity to
special importance or attention given to a particular idea, rule, or activity to show that it matters more than other things
The school puts a lot of stress on developing good reading habits from an early age.
put stress on — verb-object-preposition for emphasis
In her speech, the manager laid particular stress on the importance of working together as a team.
lay stress on — formal collocation
Sumin's parents always placed great stress on the value of honesty and hard work.
The government's new education policy puts stress on teaching practical skills alongside theory.
The safety officer repeated his warning about safety, placing special stress on the dangers of the new equipment.
special stress — adjective + stress
- put stress on
- lay stress on
- place stress on
- special stress
- great stress
- particular stress
- emphasis
a near synonym; emphasis is slightly more common in everyday language
- importance
broader term that does not imply active attention
- weight
suggests the idea of something being treated as significant
- understatement
deliberately presenting something as less important than it is
Usage Note
Formal register. Typically used in written or formal spoken contexts. The verb form stress (sense 1) is more common in everyday conversation.
Common Mistakes
stress out
phrasal verbto become very worried, anxious, or tense, usually because of pressure from work, study, or personal problems
Kevin stressed out about his driving test for a whole week before the big day.
The constant deadlines at the advertising agency made Beatrix so stressed out that she quit her job.
stresses — verb
- stressespresent simple I / you / we / they
- stresseses3rd person singular
- stressesing-ing form
- stressesedpast simple
1. to say clearly or show strongly that something is important, true, or necessary,
to say clearly or show strongly that something is important, true, or necessary, so that other people pay attention to it
The doctor stressed the importance of drinking enough water every single day.
stress + the importance of [something]
Beatrix stressed that everyone on the team needed to finish their part by Friday afternoon.
stress + that-clause for making a point emphatically
In his speech, Mauricio stressed the need for more affordable housing in the city center.
Teachers often stress the value of asking questions when you do not fully understand something.
The report stressed that changes in the climate affect poor communities much more than rich ones.
- stress the importance of
- stress the need for
- stress that
- stress the value of
- stress the point
Grammar Patterns
stress + noun phrase
stress + that-clause
Usage Note
Frequently followed by a that-clause or a noun phrase like 'the importance/need/value of something'. More direct than 'emphasize' in tone, and common in both speech and writing.
Common Mistakes
2. to pronounce a particular syllable in a word, or a particular word in a sentence
to pronounce a particular syllable in a word, or a particular word in a sentence, with more force or loudness than the surrounding sounds
When you say the word 'begin', you should stress the second syllable, not the first one.
stress + syllable — direct object pattern
Feng learned to stress the right parts of words by listening carefully to native speakers on podcasts.
In the sentence 'I did not say she took it', stressing different words completely changes the hidden meaning.
Salma asked her language teacher to show her which syllable to stress in the word 'vegetable'.
If you stress the wrong part of 'desert' and 'dessert', listeners may not know which food you mean.
contrasting minimal pairs: desert vs dessert
- stress a syllable
- stress a word
- stress the first/second syllable
- correctly stress
- weaken
to reduce the force given to a sound, as in unstressed syllables
Grammar Patterns
stress + noun phrase (syllable/word)
Usage Note
Technical but common in language learning contexts. The related noun is stress (sense 3 of noun). In everyday speech, 'accent' is sometimes used with a similar meaning.
Common Mistakes
3. to feel worried, anxious, or nervous, especially because of pressures at work, s
to feel worried, anxious, or nervous, especially because of pressures at work, school, or in personal life
Hari stressed about his job interview for days before the actual meeting with the hiring manager.
stress about [something] — prepositional pattern
Lan stressed over every small detail when she planned her sister's wedding party last summer.
stress over [something] — prepositional pattern
Kevin tends to stress out when he has too many deadlines to meet in a single week.
The children stressed about the big test, even though their parents kept telling them to relax.
Instead of stressing about things she could not change, Marta learned to focus on what she could control.
stressing about [things] — gerund form in contrastive structure
- stress about
- stress over
- stress out
- keep stressing about
- stop stressing
Grammar Patterns
stress about/over + noun phrase
stress (out) + about/over
Usage Note
Intransitive only. Takes about or over for the source of worry. The phrasal form stress out is even more informal and very common in spoken American English.
Common Mistakes
4. to push a system, piece of equipment, or set of resources beyond its normal limi
to push a system, piece of equipment, or set of resources beyond its normal limits by demanding more of it than it was built to handle
Having too many apps running at the same time stressed the laptop's memory to its breaking point.
stress [something] to its breaking point — intensifier pattern
The heavy trucks stressed the old stone bridge far more than the engineers had originally expected it could handle.
Online sales on Black Friday stressed the website's server to the point where it crashed completely.
Keeping too many cows on a small piece of land stresses the soil and the grass beyond recovery.
stress + natural resource — environmental usage
The manager worried that asking her team to run three projects at once would stress their resources far too much.
- stress a system
- stress resources
- stress the network
- stress the infrastructure
- stressed to the limit
Grammar Patterns
stress + noun phrase (system/resource)
Usage Note
Often passive ('the system was stressed by the sudden demand'). Subject is usually a machine, computer, infrastructure, or organizational resource, not a person.
Common Mistakes
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
Stress, pressure, strain, and tension all describe difficult or demanding conditions, but they highlight different aspects. Stress (noun sense 1) is the broadest term for the mental or emotional burden caused by challenging circumstances — it is what a person feels inside. Pressure focuses on the external forces pushing someone to perform, such as deadlines or expectations ('the pressure of keeping his grades up'). Strain suggests the effort or damage that results from having to cope with too much demand over time, and often implies stretching resources or ability to the limit ('the strain of caring for a sick relative'). Tension refers to a state of being stretched tight, either physically or emotionally, and is often used when anxiety arises from conflict or uncertainty ('the tension in the room before the announcement'). In everyday language, stress is the most common word for describing how a person feels when things get too hard, while pressure is better for naming the outside forces, strain for the ongoing wear and tear, and tension for the uneasy atmosphere.
Common collocations
Phrases
- under stress
- under a lot of stress
- a source of stress
- a sign of stress
Etymology
The word stress comes from the Latin verb stringere, meaning 'to draw tight' or 'to bind tightly'. This passed into Old French as estrece ('narrowness, oppression') and then into Middle English as stresse ('hardship, distress'). The original sense of physical tightness or constriction gradually broadened to include mental pressure in the 20th century, especially through the work of medical researchers studying how the body responds to difficult situations. The physics and engineering meaning (force per unit area) developed in the 1800s, and the phonetic sense (prominence given to a syllable) emerged around the same time.
First known use
14th century
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1 Verb