thlipsis

Noun

thlipsis (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Compression, especially constriction of vessels by an external cause.
   • Thus we sometimes see, in ardent fevers, the whole body suffused with redness, while the roughness and dryness of the skin, tongue, fauces, and internal parts of the mouth shew, that the smaller vessels are impervious, being compressed by a true thlipsis, the larger vessels being over distended...1773, Colin Hossack, An abridgement of Baron Van Swieten's commentaries upon the Aphorisms of the celebrated Dr. Herman Boerhaave
2. A time of hardship.
   • This thlipsis is something possessed in common by monks who find their monastic life most difficult, and by those laypeople who would perhaps be monks if they were able.2003, Robin Amis, A Different Christianity, page 268
   • Then in verse 29 Jesus says immediately after this thlipsis there will be signs in the heavens, and Jesus returns with His angels to gather his saints.2005, Elmer Wiebe, Who Is the Adventist Jesus?, page 254