mass noun
1
- extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain（极度的）焦虑, 悲伤, 痛苦：
to his distress he saw that she was trembling
令他极为痛苦的是他看到她在发抖
her fingers flew to her throat in distress.
她的手指痛苦地伸向喉咙。
1.1
- the state of a ship or aircraft when in danger or difficulty and needing help海难; 空难：
vessels in distress on or near the coast
在海岸或靠近海岸的遇险船只
as modifier the plane sent out a distress call.飞机发出遇险信号。
1.2
- suffering caused by lack of money or the basic necessities of life穷困, 贫困：
the poor were helped in their distress.
贫困的穷人得到了帮助。
1.3
- Medicine a state of physical strain, exhaustion, or, in particular, breathing difficulty【医】劳损; 疲劳; 不适（尤指呼吸困难）：
they said the baby was in distress.
他们说婴儿呼吸困难。
with obj.
1- cause (someone) anxiety, sorrow, or pain使焦虑, 使悲伤; 使痛苦：
I didn't mean to distress you
我没想让你难过
please don't distress yourself
请节哀
with obj. and infinitive he was distressed to find that Anna would not talk to him发现安娜不和他说话了, 他很难过。
as adj. distressing some very distressing news.一些十分令人难过的消息。
1.1
- give (furniture or leather) simulated marks of age and wear使（家具, 皮革）仿古; 使（家具, 皮革）有仿磨损的痕迹：
the manner in which leather jackets are industrially distressed.
工业上对皮夹克进行仿磨损的方法。
派生词
distressful
adjectivedistressingly
adverb词源
Middle English: from Old French destresce (noun)， destrecier (verb)， based on Latin distringere 'stretch apart'.