strain

Plural: strains

Noun

• (physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
• difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension; ; - R.J.Samuelson
  • "she endured the stresses and strains of life"
• a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
• (psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress
  • "his responsibilities were a constant strain"
  • "the mental strain of staying alert hour after hour was too much for him"
• a special variety of domesticated animals within a species
  • "he created a new strain of sheep"
• (biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups
  • "a new strain of microorganisms"
• injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain
• the general meaning or substance of an utterance
• an effortful attempt to attain a goal
• an intense or violent exertion
• the act of singing
• Race; lineage, pedigree.
• A particular variety of a microbe, virus, or other organism, usually a taxonomically infraspecific one.
• Hereditary character, quality, tendency, or disposition.
• Any sustained note or movement; a song; a distinct portion of an ode or other poem; also, the pervading note, or burden, of a song, poem, etc.
• Language that is eloquent, poetic, or otherwise heightened.
• A kind or sort (of person etc.).
• Treasure.
• The blood-vessel in the yolk of an egg.
• The act of straining, or the state of being strained.
• A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles.
• An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain.
• A dimensionless measure of object deformation either referring to engineering strain or true strain.
• The track of a deer.

Verb

Verb Forms: strained, straining, strains

• To exert to the utmost; to stretch tightly or injure through overexertion.
• to exert much effort or energy
  • "straining our ears to hear"
• test the limits of
• use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity
  • "Don't strain your mind too much"
• separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements
• cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious
• become stretched or tense or taut
  • "the rope strained when the weight was attached"
• remove by passing through a filter
• rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender
• alter the shape of (something) by stress
• To hold tightly, to clasp.
• To apply a force or forces to by stretching out.
• To damage by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force.
• To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as when bending a beam.
• To exert or struggle (to do something), especially to stretch (one's senses, faculties etc.) beyond what is normal or comfortable.
• To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in terms of intent or meaning.
• To separate solid from liquid by passing through a strainer or colander.
• To percolate; to be filtered.
• To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain.
• To urge with importunity; to press.
• To hug somebody; to hold somebody tightly.
• To beget, generate (of light), engender, copulate (both of animals and humans), lie with, be born, come into the world.

Examples

• A man straineth, liveth, then dieth.
• he jumped up with a strain
• Man, look at that cat straining that kitty.
• Players often STRAIN their eyes looking for obscure words on the Scrabble board.
• Relations between the United States and Guatemala traditionally have been close, although at times strained by human rights and civil/military issues.
• Sitting in back, I strained to hear the speaker.
• The gale strained the timbers of the ship.
• the strain upon the sailboat's rigging
• There is a strain of madness in her family.
• They say this year's flu virus is a particularly virulent strain.
• to strain a petition or invitation
• to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship
• to strain the law in order to convict an accused person
• water straining through a sandy soil

Synonyms

air, breed, deform, distort, extend, filter, filter out, filtrate, form, line, melodic line, melodic phrase, melody, mental strain, nervous strain, nisus, pains, puree, reach, separate out, sieve, sift, song, stock, straining, stress, strive, striving, tenor, tense, tense up, try, tune, var., variant, manner, motive, proneness, propensity, style, theme

Antonyms

relax, unstrain

Related Words

stress, strew, strict, stringent