Definition of duress

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< Dürer, Albrecht

Durgapur >

du·ress    (d-rs, dy-) KEY 

NOUN:

1. Constraint by threat; coercion: confessed under duress.
2. Law
   1. Coercion illegally applied.
   2. Forcible confinement.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English duresse, harshness, compulsion, from Old French durece, hardness, from Latin dritia, from drus, hard; see deru- in Indo-European roots