STRESS, noun 1. Force; urgency; pressure; importance; that which bears with most weight; as the stress of a legal question. Consider how much stress is laid on the exercise of charity in the New Testament. This, on which the great stress of the business depends-- 2. Force or violence; as stress of weather. 3. Force; violence; strain. Though the faculties of the mind are improved by exercise, yet they must not be put to a stress beyond their strength. STRESS, verb transitive To press; to urge; to distress; to put to difficulties. [Little used.]
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI