(stres) noun
1. Special weight, importance, or significance.
2. Physics Force exerted between contiguous portions of a body or bodies and generally expressed in pounds per square inch; strain; tension.
3. Mech. A force or system of forces which tends to produce deformation in a body on which it acts.
4. Influence exerted forcibly; pressure; compulsion.
5. In pronunciation and oral reading, the relative force with which a sound, syllable, or word is uttered. See also METRICAL STRESS, RHETORICAL STRESS.
—v.t.
1. To subject to mechanical stress, as a timber.
2. To put stress or emphasis on; accent, as a syllable.
3. To put into straits or difficulties; distress. [<OF estrece <estrecier constrain <L strictus, pp. of stringere draw tight]
—stress′ful adjective
—stress′less adjective

Feminine form of –STER: songstress. [<-STER + -ESS]