fatigue

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   labor of a nonmilitary kind done by soldiers, such as cleaning, digging, or draining

   The soldiers were put on fatigue to teach them a lesson.

2. 2
   noun

   boredom resulting from overexposure to something, always used with a modifier

   They were suffering from museum fatigue.

3. 3
   noun

   temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work

   I was hospitalized for extreme fatigue after climbing the tallest mountain in America.

4. 4
   noun

   used of materials (especially metals) in a weakened state caused by long stress

   metal fatigue

5. 5
   noun

   A weariness caused by exertion; exhaustion.

   My husband stayed for some days with the magistrate at Cardwell, recruiting his health and recovering from his fatigues, for the passage between Cape York and Cardwell had proved the most tedious and anxious part of the voyage.

6. 6
   noun

   A menial task or tasks, especially in the military.

   Moreover, the habits of business are the most enduring of any; and Lord Norbourne's most positive enjoyment was in what are called the fatigues of office.

7. 7
   noun

   Weakening and eventual failure of material, typically by cracking leading to complete separation, caused by repeated application of mechanical stress to the material.

   Mechanical failures due to fatigue have been the subject of engineering efforts for more than 150 years.

8. 8
   noun

   Attributive form of fatigues (“military clothing worn when doing menial tasks”).

   He was slouched in the chair behind the duty officer’s desk, cigarette dangling from his lips, hands thrust deep into his fatigue pockets, making a display of his disrespect. The acting clerk, cowering behind his own desk, was either afraid to insist he assume a more military posture, or else didn’t care.

Etymology

From French fatigue, from fatiguer, from Latin fatīgāre (“to weary, tire, vex, harass”).