distress 
3. In law, to seize for debt ; distrain. See dis- 
train, 6. = 8yn. 2. Trouble, Haras*, etc. See afflict. 
distress (<lis-tres'), n. [< ME. distresse, des- 
ti-ame, < OF. desire/me, dcstrccc, destresci, //<*- 
treche, destraiclte, F. de'tressc = Pr. destressa, 
destreclia, constraint, distress; from the verb. 
Hence, by apheresis, stress, n., q. v.] If. Con- 
straint; restraint; forcible control ; oppression. 
This Eolus, with hardc grace, 
Held the wyndes in distresse. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1587. 
2f. Compulsion; requirement. 
The sayde John Brendon ... to make amends to the 
sayde John Matthu after the distresse of the Master and 
Wardouys forsayde. English Oilds (E. E. T. .), p. 323. 
3. Pain or suffering of body or mind; great 
pain, anxiety, or grief. 
The thoniy point 
Of bare dittress hath ta'en from me the show 
Of smooth civility. Shak., As you Like it, li. 7. 
With sorrow and heart's distress 
Wearied I fell asleep. Milton, P. L., xll. 613. 
4. In general, a state of suffering or trouble; 
calamity ; adversity ; affliction ; misery arising 
from want or misfortune. 
Upon the earth distress of nations. Luke xxi. 25. 
There was not enough local distress for charity to find 
Interest In relieving it Stubbs, Const. Hist., { 491. 
From those thy words, I deem from some distress 
By deeds of mine thy dear life I might save. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 330. 
6. In late : (a) The act of distraining. See dis- 
train, 6. 
He would first demaund his dett, and yf he were not 
payed, he would straight goe and take a distress of his 
goodes and chattels, where he could find them, to the 
valewe. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
All who should set up such games should forfeit two 
hundred pounds, to be levied by distress on the offender's 
goods. Goldsmith, Richard Nash. 
(6) The common-law remedy by distraining. 
The practice of Distress of taking nams, a word pre- 
served in the once famous law-term withernam Is at- 
tested by records considerably older than the Conquest. 
Maine, Early Hist of Institutions, p. 262. 
(e) The thing taken by distraining; that which 
is seized to procure satisfaction. 
As these distresses cannot be aold, the owner, upon mak- 
ing satisfaction, may have his chattels again. 
Blackstone, Com., III. I. 
(d) In old Scots law, a pledge taken by the 
sheriff from those who came to fairs or mar- 
kets for their good behavior, which at their close 
was delivered back if no harm had been done. 
Abuse of distress. See ab UK. Distress sale, a sale 
of the thing distrained, in order to satisfy the claim. 
Distress warrant, a judicial process authorizing an of- 
ficer to distrain. Double distress, in Scots law, a process 
used by two or more creditors to attach the funds of their 
debtor in the hands of a third person. Flag Of distress. 
See _/taj2. Infinite distress, in law, a distress not lim- 
ited in quantity, and which might be repeated from time 
to time until the adverse party should yield. Signal Of 
distress (naut.), a signal that help is needed. = Syn. 3. 
Grief, Sorrow, etc. See affliction. 4, Hardship, straits, 
perplexity. 
distressed (dis-tresf or dis-tres'ed), p. a. Suf- 
fering distress ; exciting pity ; miserable : as, a 
poor distressed object of charity. Also distrest. 
The poor distress'd Lear is I' the town. 
Shak., Lear, iv. 8. 
He exhausted all his fortune In relieving the wants of 
the distressed. Goldsmith, Essays, Asem. 
distressedness (dis-trest'nes), n. The state 
of being distressed or greatly pained. Bailey, 
1731. 
distressful (dis-tres'ful),a. [< distress + -ful.] 
1. Inflicting or bringing distress ; distressing; 
calamitous : as, a distressful event. 
And often did beguile her of her tears, 
When I did speak of some distressful stroke 
That my youth suffer'd. Shak., Othello, i. 3. 
The separation of friends and families is, perhaps, one of 
the most distressful circumstances attendant on penury. 
Goldsmith, Vicar, iii. 
2. Indicating distress; proceeding from pain 
or anguish : as, distressful cries. 
One glance into Claude's face, darkened with perplexity, 
anger, and a distressful effort to look amiable and com- 
fortable, was one too many ; Tarbox burst into a laugh. 
G. W. Cable, An Large, xxi. 
3f. Attended with poverty or misery ; gained 
by severe or painful toil. 
Not all these, laid in bed majesticnl, 
Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave, 
Who, with a body fill'd, and vacant mind, 
Get* him to rest, cramm'd with distressful bread. 
Shak., Hen. V., iv. 1. 
distressfully (dis-tres'ful-i), adv. In a dis- 
tressing manner. 
distressing (dis-tres'ing), p. a. Very painful 
or afflicting: as, a distressing sickness. =syn. 
Acute, grievous, trying, afflictive, torturing, miserable. 
107 
1097 
distressingly (dis-tres'ing-li), adv. In a dis- 
tressing manner. 
distrest, i>. a. See distressed. 
distreynet, . A Middle English form of dis- 
train. 
distributable (dis-trib'u-ta-bl), a. [< distributr 
+ -able.'] Capable of being distributed ; avail- 
able for distribution. 
Let them melt up their eagles, and add the mass to the 
distributable fund. Jefferson, Correspondence, I. 421. 
distributary (dis-trib'u-ta-ri), a. [< ML. dis- 
tributarius, < L. distribu'tus, pp. : see distribute.'] 
Distributing ; distributive ; designed for distri- 
bution. Imp. Diet. 
distribute (ais-trib'ut), v. ; pret. and pp. dis- 
tributed, ppr. distributing. [< L. distrtbutus, pp. 
of distribuere (> It. distribute, stribuire = Sp. 
Pg. Pr. distribuir=F. distribuer), divide, distrib- 
ute, < dis-, apart, + tribuere, give, impart: see 
tribute.'] I. trans. 1. To divide or parcel out; 
allot in shares ; bestow in parts or shares, or 
in due proportion; apportion; divide among 
several: as, Moses distributed l&nds to the tribes 
of Israel ; Christ ilix/i-ilmt,;! the loaves to his 
disciples ; to distribute justice. 
From hence a hundred rivers are supplied, which dis- 
tribute health and verdure to the various countries through 
which they flow. Goldsmith, Essays, Asem. 
Walk your dim cloister, and distribute, dole. 
Tennyson, Guinevere. 
The shore ... is very vneuen, distributed into hills 
and dales. Capt. John Smith, True Travels, II. 112. 
2. To separate and put in place or order; ar- 
range by classification or location : as, to dis- 
tribute printing-types into their respective 
boxes (see II., 2); to distribute animals into 
classes, orders, genera, and species ; to distrib- 
ute the books in a library according to their 
subjects. 
His time, the day, and night, he distributed by the burn* 
Ing of certain Tapours into three equall portions. 
Hilton, Hist. Eng., v. 
3. To spread; scatter; disperse. 
The marques of Cadiz, with his confederate command- 
ers, distributed themselves along the walla, to direct and 
animate their men in the defense. Ircing, Granada, p. 43. 
4. To spread out; cover a surface or fill a space 
with: as, to distribute ink (that is, spread it 
evenly and smoothly) on printing-rollers; to 
distribute manure over a field ; to distribute heat 
in a building. 5. In logic, to employ in its full 
extent, as a term. Distributed force. See forcei. 
Distributed term, in logic* a term employed In its 
full extent, so as to comprehend all its signiflcates, or 
everything to which it Is applicable. =Syn. 1. Apportion, 
Allot, Assign (see dispense); partition, portion out. 2. 
To classify, arrange, sort, assort, dispose. 
II. intrans. 1. To make distribution; exer- 
cise charity. 
Distributing to the necessity of saints. Kom. xil. 13. 
2. In printing, to put dead matter (that is, com- 
posed types that are no longer needed for print- 
ing) into the cases, by holding a quantity of it 
upright in the left hand on a support, and throw- 
ing the separate types from a number taken be- 
tween the thumb and first and second fingers 
of the right hand into their proper boxes; to 
"throw in": as, he distributes rapidly, 
distributer (dis-trib'u-ter), . One who or that 
which distributes. 
I am also by office an assisting Bister of the deacons, 
and a deuourer, instead of a distributer of the alms. 
//. Jonnon, Bartholomew Fair, v. 2. 
distributing-machine (dis - trib ' u - ting -ma - 
shen'),n. Inprinting, an apparatus for the me- 
chanical performance of the work of type-distri- 
bution. It usually accomplishes its task through the 
provision of a distinctive nick on the types for each char- 
acter, and deposits the different characters in separate 
rows or lines on slides. 
distribution (dis-tri-bu'shpn), n. [= F. distri- 
bution = Pr. distribucio = Sip. distribution = Pg. 
distribuic > So = It. distribuzione, stribuzione, < L. 
distributio(n-), < distribuere, distribute: see dis- 
tribute.'] 1. The act of dividing or parceling 
out; allotment in shares or according to re- 
quirement; apportionment; division among sev- 
eral: as, the distribution of an estate among the 
heirs ; the distribution of justice or of alms ; the 
distribution of parts in a play. 
Of great riches there is no real use, except it be in the 
distribution. Bacon, Riches. 
I know that it is common to rail at the unequal distri- 
bution of riches as the great source of jealousies, broils, 
and heart-breakings. Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 161. 
It is evidently on the real distribution of power, and 
not on names and badges, that the happiness of nations 
must depend. 
Macanlui/, I'tilitarian Theory of Government. 
2. That which is distributed or apportioned. 
distributional 
Sit ((iiiet in the soft showers of Providence, and favour 
able d utributions in this world, either to thyself or others. 
Hir T. Brovne, Christ. Mor., III. 5. 
Our charitable distributions. Bp. Atlerbury. 
3. The act or process of separating and arrang- 
i 1 1 L% or the special arrangement secured ; sepa- 
ration into distinct order, parts, or classes: sys- 
tematic or natural arrangement: as, the distri- 
bution of printing-types into their boxes (see 
distribute, II., 2) j the distribution of plants into 
genera and species. 
The regular distribution of power into distinct depart- 
ments. Hamilton. 
Our knowledge of distribution In Time, being derived 
wholly from the evidence afforded by fossils, is limited to 
that geologic time of which some records remain: cannot 
extend to those pre-geologic times the records of which 
have been obliterated. //. Spencer, Prin. of Blol., 1 107. 
The distribution of the positions and velocities of each 
set of spheres is Independent of the remaining sets, and 
ls in all respects the same as if tiiat particular set alone 
existed in the region of space under consideration. 
//. W. Watson, Kinetic Theory of Gae, p. 22. 
4. The act of spreading out as over a surface ; 
in printing, the spreading of ink in an even film 
over the inking-rollers and the inking-table. 
5. In rhet. : (a) Enumeration of several persons 
or things, with attribution to each of a special 
office, function, or characteristic. (6) The clas- 
sification of the topics of a discourse by divid- 
ing them under different heads : now more com- 
monly called division. 
I do not mean that in every discourse a formal division, 
or distribution of it into parts, is requisite. 
l:i:ii,-, Rhetoric, xxxl. 
6. In logic: (a) The distinguishing of a uni- 
versal whole into its several kinds or species : 
thus differing from division, by which an inte- 
gral whole is distinguished into its several parts. 
(6) The acceptation of a term in a general 
sense to apply to many individuals. This use of 
dint rilmi in appears in the early part of the thirteenth cen- 
tury. Petrus Hispanus says, " Distribution is a multipli- 
cation of a common term made by a universal sign ; thus, 
when we say every man, the latter term Is distributed or 
confounded by the sign every, so that there is a multipli- 
cation." 
He will tell you that this axiom containes a distribution, 
and that all such axioms are general!; and lastly, that a 
distribution In which any part is wanting, or abundant, 
is faulty and fallacious. 
Milton, On Def. of Humb. Remonst. 
7. In arch., the arrangement of a plan with 
reference to walls and open spaces, or to the 
various services and uses to which the different 
apartments of an interior are destined; also, 
the artistic combination of masses, ornaments, 
wall-openings, various kinds of masonry, etc. 
8. lapolit. econ., the division of the aggregate 
produce of the industry of any society among 
the independent individuals who compose it. 
9. In steam-engines, the operation by which 
steam is admitted into and withdrawn from 
the cylinder at each stroke of the piston. 
Accommodate distribution. In logic. See accommo- 
date. Civil distribution, in logic, the acceptation of a 
term for nearly all its singulars, according to the every- 
day loose usage of speech : as, everybody reverences Shak- 
spere (where everybody excludes not only those who know 
nothing of him, but also a considerable number of his stu- 
dents). Distribution of a curve, In ijeom. See cunt. 
Distribution of electricity, a phrase employed to 
signify the density of the electricity on a body, as deter- 
mined by its shape or the proximity of other electrified 
bodies, which act Inductively upon it. (See density.) A 
charge of electricity always tends to distribute itself over 
the entire surface of the conductor. Distribution Of 
heat, a phrase expressive of the several ways by which 
the rays of heat, as they fall upon the surface of a solid 
or liquid body, may be disposed of, as by reflection, by 
absorption, or by transmission. Geographical distri- 
bution. In bot. and zoot., that branch of the respective 
sciences which treats of the distribution of plants and 
animals over the surface of the earth, ascertaining the 
areas within which each species is found, investigating 
the climatic and other conditions which determine its 
occurrence, and in general settling all questions with re- 
gard to the areas occupied by the floras and faunas of the 
different countries of the world ; chorology ; zoogeogra- 
phy or phytogeography. Parametric distribution, in 
math., the manner of correspondence of different values 
of a parameter with points of a curve. Thus, when the 
coordinates of the variable points of a bicursal curve are 
represented by elliptic functions of a parameter, to each 
point of the curve there belongs a twofold infinity of values 
of the parameter, and the precise description of the corre- 
spondence is the parametric distribution, Province Of 
distribution, in bot. and zodl., a fauual and floral area ; 
a chorological region. See the extract 
Certain areas of the earth's surface are Inhabited by 
groups of animals and plants which are not found else- 
where. . . . Such areas are termed Provinces of Distribu- 
tion. Huxley, Anat. Invert., p. 24. 
Statute Of distributions, i" law, a statute which regu- 
lates the distribution of the personal estate of intestates. 
= Syn. 1. Apportionment, partition, division, disposition, 
grouping. 
distributional (dis-tri-bu'shon-al), a. [< dis- 
tribution + -a/.] Of or pertaining to distribu- 
