All 4 Uses

despair
in
The Pit and the Pendulum
(Auto-generated)

I saw that some ten or twelve vibrations would bring the steel in actual contact with my robe, and with this observation there suddenly came over my spirit all the keen, collected calmness of despair.
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despair = distressed (at not knowing how to improve a bad situation)
My eyes followed its outward or upward whirls with the eagerness of the most unmeaning despair; they closed themselves spasmodically at the descent, although death would have been a relief, oh!†
I proceeded at once, with the nervous energy of despair, to attempt its execution.†
I struggled no more, but the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long, and final scream of despair.†

Definitions:

(1) (despair as in: she felt despair)
hopelessness; or distress (such as extreme worry or sadness from feeling powerless to change a bad situation)
(2) (despair as in: do not despair)
lose hope or feel distress
(3) (despair as in: she was the despair of the team)
something that causes hopelessness or great distress
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)