Distress

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The word distress has various meanings:-

  • Distress is a kind of suffering or stress.
  • In medicine, distress is stress caused by adverse events. See also fetal distress, respiratory distress.
  • In Maritime and Aircraft terms, distress is defined as "grave and imminent danger to life or person or vessel or aircraft, needing immediate assistance". Such a state is indicated by a mayday radio call.
  • Distress is also used by Search and Rescue services to describe targets in adverse or critical conditions.
  • Distress can also refer to the process whereby materials are worn down by time and natural forces.
  • Distressing in woodworking and the decorative arts is the art of making furniture and household objects look old.
  • In law, distress, or distraint, is the act of seizing goods to compel payment, or the goods thus seized.
  • Distress is a novel by Greg Egan