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17 results for: Duress

Dictionary Entries (7 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Cite This Source
du·ress    Audio Help   [doo-res, dyoo-, door-is, dyoor-] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.compulsion by threat or force; coercion; constraint.
2.Law. such constraint or coercion as will render void a contract or other legal act entered or performed under its influence.
3.forcible restraint, esp. imprisonment.
[Origin: 1275–1325; ME duresse < MF duresse, -esce, -ece < L dūritia hardness, harshness, oppression, equiv. to dūr(us) hard + -itia -ice]

—Synonyms 1. intimidation, pressure, bullying, browbeating.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Thesaurus Entries
  Synonym Collection v1.1Cite This Source
Main Entry:  duress
Part of Speech:  noun
Synonyms:  captivity, coercion, compulsion, confinement, constraint, detention, force, imprisonment, pressure, restraint, stranglehold, threat, durance, incarceration
Source:  Synonym Collection v1.1
Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.
  Roget's II: The New ThesaurusCite This Source
Main Entry:  force
Part of Speech:  noun
Definition:  Power used to overcome resistance.
Synonyms:  coercion, compulsion, constraint, pressure, strength, violence
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Encyclopedia Articles (6 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic EncyclopediaCite This Source


duress, in law, actual or threatened violence or imprisonment, by reason of which a person is forced to enter into an agreement or to perform some other act against his will. The constraint or threat of constraint must have been directed toward the person thus compelled or toward the wife, husband, parent, child, or other near relative of the person compelled. Anyone who makes a contract under duress is entitled to void it and be free of its obligations, but in order to release him from the contract duress must be shown to have overcome his mind and will. However, annoyance and persuasion do not constitute duress. See also coercion. 
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press




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