资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Distress \Dis*tress"\, n. [OE. destresse, distresse, OF.
destresse, destrece, F. d['e]tresse, OF. destrecier to
distress, (assumed) LL. districtiare, fr. L. districtus, p.
p. of distringere. See {Distrain}, and cf. {Stress}.]
1. Extreme pain or suffering; anguish of body or mind; as, to
suffer distress from the gout, or from the loss of
friends.
Not fearing death nor shrinking for distress.
--Shak.
2. That which occasions suffering; painful situation;
misfortune; affliction; misery.
Affliction's sons are brothers in distress. --Burns.
3. A state of danger or necessity; as, a ship in distress,
from leaking, loss of spars, want of provisions or water,
etc.
4. (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}.
Syn: Affliction; suffering; pain; agony; misery; torment;
anguish; grief; sorrow; calamity; misfortune; trouble;
adversity. See {Affliction}.
Abuse \A*buse"\, n. [F. abus, L. abusus, fr. abuti. See {Abuse},
v. t.]
1. Improper treatment or use; application to a wrong or bad
purpose; misuse; as, an abuse of our natural powers; an
abuse of civil rights, or of privileges or advantages; an
abuse of language.
Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty,
as well as by the abuses of power. --Madison.
2. Physical ill treatment; injury. ``Rejoice . . . at the
abuse of Falstaff.'' --Shak.
3. A corrupt practice or custom; offense; crime; fault; as,
the abuses in the civil service.
Abuse after disappeared without a struggle..
--Macaulay.
4. Vituperative words; coarse, insulting speech; abusive
language; virulent condemnation; reviling.
The two parties, after exchanging a good deal of
abuse, came to blows. --Macaulay.
5. Violation; rape; as, abuse of a female child. [Obs.]
Or is it some abuse, and no such thing? --Shak.
{Abuse of distress} (Law), a wrongful using of an animal or
chattel distrained, by the distrainer.
Syn: Invective; contumely; reproach; scurrility; insult;
opprobrium.
Usage: {Abuse}, {Invective}. Abuse is generally prompted by
anger, and vented in harsh and unseemly words. It is
more personal and coarse than invective. Abuse
generally takes place in private quarrels; invective
in writing or public discussions. Invective may be
conveyed in refined language and dictated by
indignation against what is blameworthy. --C. J.
Smith.