Emily Dickinson Lexicon

STRESS, n. [W. trais, force, violence, oppression; treissaw, to force or drive; Ir. treise, force; Arm. treçzen, a twist; troseza, trouezal, to truss, Fr. trousser. Hence distress, trestle, &c.]

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. – Locke.
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. – Locke.

STRESS, v.t.

To press; to urge; to distress; to put to difficulties. [Little used.] – Spenser.

STRETCH, n.

1. Extension in length or in breadth; reach; as, a great stretch of wings. – Ray.
2. Effort; struggle; strain. Those put lawful authority upon the stretch to the abuse of power, under color of prerogative. – L'Estrange.
3. Force of body; straining. By stretch of arms the distant shore to gain. – Dryden.
4. Utmost extent of meaning. Quotations in their utmost stretch, can signify no more than that Luther lay under severe agonies of mind. – Atterbury.
5. Utmost reach of power. This is the utmost stretch that nature can. – Granville.
6. In sailing, a tack; the reach or extent of progress on one tack. – Mar. Dict.
7. Course; direction; as, the stretch of seams of coal. – Kirwan

STRETCH, v.i.

1. To be extended; to be drawn out in length or in breadth, or both. A wet hempen cord or cloth contracts; in drying, it stretches.
2. To be extended; to spread; as, a lake stretches over a hundred miles of earth. Lake Erie stretches from Niagara nearly to Huron. Hence,
3. To stretch to, is to reach.
4. To be extended or to bear extension without breaking, as elastic substances. The inner membrane … because it would stretch and yield, remained unbroken. – Boyle.
5. To sally beyond the truth; to exaggerate. A man who is apt to stretch, has less credit than others.
6. In navigation, to sail; to direct a course. It is often understood to signify to sail under a great spread of canvas close hauled. In this it differs from stand, which implies no press of sail. We were standing to the east, when we saw a ship stretching to the southward.
7. To make violent efforts in running.

STRETCH, v.t. [Sax. streccan; D. strekken; G. strecken; Dan. strekker; sträcka; probably formed on the root of reach, right, L. rego, &c.]

1. To dress out to greater length; to extend in a line; as, to stretch a cord or a rope.
2. To extend in breadth; as, to stretch cloth.
3. To spread; to expand; as, to stretch the wings.
4. To reach; to extend. Stretch thine hand to the poor. – Ecculus.
5. To spread; to display; as, to stretch forth the heavens. – Tillotson.
6. To draw or pull out in length; to strain; as, to stretch a tendon or muscle.
7. To make tense; to strain. So the stretch'd cord the shackled dancer tries. – Smith.
8. To extend mentally; as, to stretch the mind or thoughts.
9. To exaggerate; to extend too far; as, to stretch the truth; to stretch one's credit.

STRETCH'ED, pp.

Drawn out in length; extended; exerted to the utmost.

STRETCH'ER, n.

1. He or that which stretches.
2. A term in bricklaying. – Moxon.
3. A piece of timber in building.
4. A narrow piece of plank placed across a boat for the rowers to set their feet against. – Mar. Dict.

STRETCH'ING, ppr.

Drawing out in length; extending; spreading; exerting force.

STREW, v.t. [Goth. strawan; Sax. streawian, streowian; G. streuen; D. strooijen; Dan. ströer; Sw. strö; contracted from strægan, which is retained in the Saxon. The Latin has sterno, stravi; the latter is our strew, straw. This verb is written straw, strew, or strow; straw is nearly obsolete, and strew is obsolescent. Strew is generally used.]

1. To scatter; to spread by scattering; always applied to dry substances separable into parts or particles; as, to strew seed in beds; to strew sand on or over a floor; to strew flowers over a grave.
2. To spread by being scattered over. The snow which does the top of Pindus strew. – Spenser. Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain? – Pope.
3. To scatter loosely. And strew'd his mangled limbs about the field. – Dryden.

STREW'ED, pp.

1. Scattered; spread by scattering; as, sand strewed on paper.
2. Covered or sprinkled with something scattered; as, a floor strewed with sand.

STREW'ING, n.

1. The act of scattering or spreading over.
2. Any thing fit to be strewed. – Shak.

STREW'ING, ppr.

Scattering; spreading over.

STREW'MENT, n.

Any thing scattered in decoration. [Not used.] – Shak.

STRI'AE, n. [STRI'æ. plur. L. See Streak.]

In natural history, small channels in the shells of cockles and in other substances.

STRI'ATE, or STRI'A-TED, a.

1. Formed with small channels; channeled.
2. In botany, streaked; marked or scored with superficial or very slender lines; marked with fine parallel lines. – Martyn. Smith. Striated fracture, in mineralogy consists of long narrow separable parts laid on or beside each other. – Kirwan.

STRI'A-TURE, n.

Disposition of striæ. – Woodward.

STRICK, n. [Gr. στριξ, L. strix, a screech-owl.]

A bird of ill omen. [Not in use.] – Spenser.

STRICK'EN, pp. [of Strike.]

1. Struck; smitten; as, the stricken deer. [See Strike.] – Spenser.
2. Advanced; worn; far gone. Abraham was old and well stricken in age. Gen. xxxiv. [Obs.]

STRICK'LE, n. [from strike.]

1. A strike; an instrument to strike grain to a level with the measure. [In the United States the word strike is used.]
2. An instrument for whetting sythes.

STRICT, a. [L. strictus, from stringo; Sax. stræc. See Strain.]

1. Strained; drawn close; tight; as, a strict embrace; a strict ligature. – Arbuthnot. Dryden.
2. Tense; not relaxed; as, a strict or lax fiber. – Arbuthnot.
3. Exact; accurate; rigorously nice; as, to keep strict watch. Observe the strictest rules of virtue and decorum.
4. Severe; rigorous; governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; as, the father is very strict in observing the sabbath. The master is very strict with his apprentices.
5. Rigorous; not mild or indulgent; as strict laws.
6. Confined; limited; not with latitude; as, to understand words in a strict sense.

STRICT'LY, adv.

1. Closely; tightly.
2. Exactly; with nice accuracy; as, patriotism strictly so called, is a noble virtue.
3. Positively. He commanded his son strictly to proceed no further.
4. Rigorously; severely; without remission or indulgence. Examine thyself strictly, whether thou didst not best at first. – Bacon.

STRICT'NESS, n.

1. Closeness; tightness; opposed to laxity.
2. Exactness in the observance of rules, laws, rites and the like; rigorous accuracy; nice regularity or precision. I could not grant too much or distrust too little, to men that pretended singular piety sad religious strictness. – K. Charles.
3. Rigor; severity. These commissioners proceeded with such strictness and severity no did much obscure the king's mercy. – Bacon.

STRIC'TURE, n. [L. strictura. See Strike and Stroke, which unite with L. stringo.]

1. A stroke; a glance; a touch. – Hale.
2. A touch of criticism; critical remark; censure. I have given myself the liberty of these strictures by way of reflection on every passage. – Hammond.
3. A drawing; a spastic or other morbid contraction of a passage of the body. – Arbuthnot.

STRIDE, n. [Sax. stræde, a step; gestridan, to stride; bestridan, to bestride; probably formed on the root of L. gradior, Shemitic רדה, in Syr. to go, Ch. to spread, Sax. stredan, id.]

A long step. Her voice theatrically loud, / And masculine her stride. – Swift.

STRIDE, v.i. [pret. strid, strode; pp. strid, stridden.]

1. To walk with long steps. Mars in the middle of the shining shield / Is grav'd, and strides along the field. – Dryden.
2. To straddle.