distress

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• transitive verb To cause strain, anxiety, or suffering to. synonym: trouble.
• transitive verb To mar or otherwise treat (an object or fabric, for example) to give the appearance of an antique or of heavy prior use.
• transitive verb Archaic To constrain or overcome by harassment.
• noun Anxiety or mental suffering.
• noun Bodily dysfunction or discomfort caused by disease or injury.
• noun Physical deterioration, as of a highway, caused by hard use over time.
• noun The condition of being in need of immediate assistance.
• noun Suffering caused by poverty.
• noun Law The act of distraining or seizing goods to compel payment or other satisfaction for a debt or other duty owed; distraint.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Constraint; restraint; forcible control; oppression.
• noun Compulsion; requirement.
• noun Pain or suffering of body or mind; great pain, anxiety, or grief.
• noun In general, a state of suffering or trouble; calamity; adversity; affliction; misery arising from want or misfortune.
• noun In law : The act of distraining. See distrain, 6.
• noun The common-law remedy by distraining.
• noun The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction.
• noun In old Scots law, a pledge taken by the sheriff from those who came to fairs or markets for their good behavior, which at their close was delivered back if no harm had been done.
• noun Synonyms Grief, Sorrow, etc. See affliction.
• noun Hardship, straits, perplexity.
• To constrain or compel by pain, suffering, or force of circumstances.
• To afflict with pain, physical or mental; oppress or crush with suffering, misfortune, or calamity; make miserable.
• In law, to seize for debt; distrain. See distrain, 6.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun Extreme pain or suffering; anguish of body or mind.
• noun That which occasions suffering; painful situation; misfortune; affliction; misery.
• noun A state of danger or necessity
• noun 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.
• noun The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction.
• noun (Law) See under Abuse.
• transitive verb To cause pain or anguish to; to pain; to oppress with calamity; to afflict; to harass; to make miserable.
• transitive verb To compel by pain or suffering.
• transitive verb (Law) To seize for debt; to distrain.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun discomfort.
• noun Serious danger.
• noun law A seizing of property without legal process to force payment of a debt.
• verb To cause strain or anxiety to someone.
• verb law To retain someone’s property against the payment of a debt; to distrain.
• verb To treat an object, such as an antique, to give it an appearance of age.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun extreme physical pain
• verb cause mental pain to
• verb bring into difficulties or distress, especially financial hardship
• noun psychological suffering
• noun the seizure and holding of property as security for payment of a debt or satisfaction of a claim
• noun a state of adversity (danger or affliction or need)