Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - distress

~1 n 1 »EXTREME WORRY« a feeling of extreme worry and unhappiness  (Luke's destructive behaviour caused his parents great distress. | in distress)  (The girl was crying and clearly in distress.) 2 »PAIN« formal great physical pain 3 »LACK OF MONEY/FOOD« a situation in which you suffer or have great problems because you have no money, food etc  (in distress)  (charities that aid families in distress | acute financial distress) 4 distress signal a message sent from a ship, aircraft etc asking for help 5 be in distress if a ship, aircraft etc is in distress, it is in danger of sinking or crashing ~2 v to make someone feel extremely upset and worried