Adjacent Words

Strain definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STRAIN, v.t. [L. This word retains its original signification, to stretch.]
1. To stretch; to draw with force; to extend with great effort; as, to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship; to strain the chords of an instrument.
2. To cause to draw with force, or with excess of exertion; to injure by pressing with too much effort. He strained this horses or his oxen by overloading them.
3. To stretch violently or by violent exertion; as, to strain the arm or the muscles.
4. To put to the utmost strength. Men in desperate cases will strain themselves for relief.
5. To press or cause to pass through some porous substance; to purify or separate from extraneous matter by filtration; to filter; as, to strain milk. Water may be stained through sand.
6. To sprain; to injure by drawing or stretching.
Prudes decayd about may tack, strain their necks with looking back.
7. To make tighter; to cause to bind closer.
To strain his fetters with a stricter care.
8. To force; to constrain; to make uneasy or unnatural.
His mirth is forced and strained.
STRAIN, v.i.
1. To make violent efforts.
To build his fortune I will strain a little.
Straining with too weak a wing.
2. To be filtered. Water straining through sand becomes pure.
STRAIN, n.
1. A violent effort; a stretching or exertion of the limbs or muscles, or of any thing else.
2. An injury by excessive exertion, drawing or stretching.
3. Style; continued manner of speaking or writing; as the genius and strain of the book of Proverbs. So we say, poetic strains, lofty strains.
4. Song; note; sound; or a particular part of a tune.
Their heavenly harps a lower strain began.
5. Turn; tendency; inborn disposition.
Because heretics have a strain of madness, he applied her with some corporal chastisements.
6. Manner of speech or action.
Such take too high a strain at first.
7. Race; generation; descent.
He is of a noble strain. [Not in use.]
8. Hereditary disposition.
Intemperance and lust breed diseases, which propagated, spoil the strain of a nation. [Not in use.]
9. Rank; character. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
2: difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension; "she endured the stresses and strains of life"; "he presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger"- R.J.Samuelson [syn: stress, strain]
3: a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; "she was humming an air from Beethoven" [syn: tune, melody, air, strain, melodic line, line, melodic phrase]
4: (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" [syn: strain, mental strain, nervous strain]
5: a special variety of domesticated animals within a species; "he experimented on a particular breed of white rats"; "he created a new strain of sheep" [syn: breed, strain, stock]
6: (biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups; "a new strain of microorganisms" [syn: form, variant, strain, var.]
7: injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain
8: the general meaning or substance of an utterance; "although I disagreed with him I could follow the tenor of his argument" [syn: tenor, strain]
9: an effortful attempt to attain a goal [syn: striving, nisus, pains, strain]
10: an intense or violent exertion [syn: strain, straining]
11: the act of singing; "with a shout and a song they marched up to the gates" [syn: song, strain] v
1: to exert much effort or energy; "straining our ears to hear" [syn: strive, reach, strain]
2: test the limits of; "You are trying my patience!" [syn: try, strain, stress]
3: use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity; "He really extended himself when he climbed Kilimanjaro"; "Don't strain your mind too much" [syn: strain, extend]
4: separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements; "sift the flour" [syn: sift, sieve, strain]
5: cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious; "he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up" [syn: tense, strain, tense up] [ant: loosen up, make relaxed, relax, unlax, unstrain, unwind]
6: become stretched or tense or taut; "the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;" "the rope strained when the weight was attached" [syn: strain, tense]
7: remove by passing through a filter; "filter out the impurities" [syn: filter, filtrate, strain, separate out, filter out]
8: rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender; "puree the vegetables for the baby" [syn: puree, strain]
9: alter the shape of (something) by stress; "His body was deformed by leprosy" [syn: deform, distort, strain]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English streen progeny, lineage, from Old English str?on gain, acquisition; akin to Old High German gistriuni gain, Latin struere to heap up — more at strew Date: 13th century 1. a. lineage, ancestry b. a group of presumed common ancestry with clear-cut physiological but usually not morphological distinctions <a high-yielding strain of winter wheat>; broadly a specified infraspecific group (as a stock, line, or ecotype) c. kind, sort <discussions of a lofty strain> 2. a. inherited or inherent character, quality, or disposition <a strain of madness in the family> b. trace, streak <a strain of fanaticism> 3. a. tune, air b. a passage of verbal or musical expression c. a stream or outburst of forceful or impassioned speech 4. a. the tenor, pervading note, burden, or tone of an utterance or of a course of action or conduct b. mood, temper II. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French estreindre, from Latin stringere to bind or draw tight, press together; akin to Greek strang-, stranx drop squeezed out, strangal? halter Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to draw tight ; cause to fit firmly <strain the bandage over the wound> b. to stretch to maximum extension and tautness <strain a canvas over a frame> 2. a. to exert (as oneself) to the utmost b. to injure by overuse, misuse, or excessive pressure <strained his back> c. to cause a change of form or size in (a body) by application of external force 3. to squeeze or clasp tightly: as a. hug b. to compress painfully ; constrict 4. a. to cause to pass through a strainer ; filter b. to remove by straining <strain lumps out of the gravy> 5. to stretch beyond a proper limit <that story strains my credulity> 6. obsolete to squeeze out ; extort intransitive verb 1. a. to make violent efforts ; strive <has to strain to reach the high notes> b. to pull against resistance <a dog straining at its leash> c. to contract the muscles forcefully in attempting to defecate — often used in the phrase strain at stool 2. to pass through or as if through a strainer <the liquid strains readily> 3. to make great difficulty or resistance ; balk III. noun Date: 1558 1. an act of straining or the condition of being strained: as a. bodily injury from excessive tension, effort, or use <heart strain>; especially one resulting from a wrench or twist and involving undue stretching of muscles or ligaments <back strain> b. excessive or difficult exertion or labor c. excessive physical or mental tension; also a force, influence, or factor causing such tension <a strain on the marriage> d. deformation of a material body under the action of applied forces 2. an unusual reach, degree, or intensity ; pitch 3. archaic a strained interpretation of something said or written

Britannica Concise

In the physical sciences and engineering, a number that describes the relative deformation of elastic, plastic, and fluid materials under applied forces. It arises throughout the material as the particles of the material are displaced from their usual position. Normal strain is caused by forces perpendicular to planes or cross sections of the material, such as in a volume that is under pressure on all sides. Shear strain is caused by forces that are parallel to, and lie in, planes or cross sections, such as in a short metal tube that is twisted about its longitudinal axis. See also deformation and flow.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. & n. --v. 1 tr. & intr. stretch tightly; make or become taut or tense. 2 tr. exercise (oneself, one's senses, a thing, etc.) intensely or excessively, press to extremes. 3 a intr. make an intensive effort. b intr. (foll. by after) strive intensely for (straining after perfection). 4 intr. (foll. by at) tug, pull (the dog strained at the leash). 5 intr. hold out with difficulty under pressure (straining under the load). 6 tr. a distort from the true intention or meaning. b apply (authority, laws, etc.) beyond their province or in violation of their true intention. 7 tr. overtask or injure by overuse or excessive demands (strain a muscle; strained their loyalty). 8 a tr. clear (a liquid) of solid matter by passing it through a sieve etc. b tr. (foll. by out) filter (solids) out from a liquid. c intr. (of a liquid) percolate. 9 tr. hug or squeeze tightly. 10 tr. use (one's ears, eyes, voice, etc.) to the best of one's power. --n. 1 a the act or an instance of straining. b the force exerted in this. 2 an injury caused by straining a muscle etc. 3 a a severe demand on physical strength or resources. b the exertion needed to meet this (is suffering from strain). 4 (in sing. or pl.) a snatch or spell of music or poetry. 5 a tone or tendency in speech or writing (more in the same strain). 6 Physics a the condition of a body subjected to stress; molecular displacement. b a quantity measuring this, equal to the amount of deformation usu. divided by the original dimension. Phrases and idioms: at strain (or full strain) exerted to the utmost. strain every nerve make every possible effort. strain oneself 1 injure oneself by effort. 2 make undue efforts. Derivatives: strainable adj. Etymology: ME f. OF estreindre estreign- f. L stringere strict- draw tight 2. n. 1 a breed or stock of animals, plants, etc. 2 a moral tendency as part of a person's character (a strain of aggression). Etymology: ME, = progeny, f. OE streon (recorded in gestreonan beget), rel. to L struere build

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Strain Strain, n. (Hort.) A cultural subvariety that is only slightly differentiated.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Strain Strain, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Strained; p. pr. & vb. n. Straining.] [OF. estraindre, estreindre, F. ['e]treindre, L. stringere to draw or bind tight; probably akin to Gr. ? a halter, ? that which is squeezwd out, a drop, or perhaps to E. strike. Cf. Strangle, Strike, Constrain, District, Strait, a. Stress, Strict, Stringent.] 1. To draw with force; to extend with great effort; to stretch; as, to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship; to strain the cords of a musical instrument. ``To strain his fetters with a stricter care.'' --Dryden. 2. (Mech.) To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it. 3. To exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously. He sweats, Strains his young nerves. --Shak. They strain their warbling throats To welcome in the spring. --Dryden. 4. To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in the matter of intent or meaning; as, to strain the law in order to convict an accused person. There can be no other meaning in this expression, however some may pretend to strain it. --Swift. 5. To injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship. 6. To injure in the muscles or joints by causing to make too strong an effort; to harm by overexertion; to sprain; as, to strain a horse by overloading; to strain the wrist; to strain a muscle. Prudes decayed about may track, Strain their necks with looking back. --Swift. 7. To squeeze; to press closely. Evander with a close embrace Strained his departing friend. --Dryden. 8. To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain. He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirth Is forced and strained. --Denham. The quality of mercy is not strained. --Shak. 9. To urge with importunity; to press; as, to strain a petition or invitation. Note, if your lady strain his entertainment. --Shak. 10. To press, or cause to pass, through a strainer, as through a screen, a cloth, or some porous substance; to purify, or separate from extraneous or solid matter, by filtration; to filter; as, to strain milk through cloth. To strain a point, to make a special effort; especially, to do a degree of violence to some principle or to one's own feelings. To strain courtesy, to go beyond what courtesy requires; to insist somewhat too much upon the precedence of others; -- often used ironically. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Strain Strain, n. [See Strene.] 1. Race; stock; generation; descent; family. He is of a noble strain. --Shak. With animals and plants a cross between different varieties, or between individuals of the same variety but of another strain, gives vigor and fertility to the offspring. --Darwin. 2. Hereditary character, quality, or disposition. Intemperance and lust breed diseases, which, propogated, spoil the strain of nation. --Tillotson. 3. Rank; a sort. ``The common strain.'' --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Strain Strain (str[=a]n), v. i. 1. To make violent efforts. ``Straining with too weak a wing.'' --Pope. To build his fortune I will strain a little. --Shak. 2. To percolate; to be filtered; as, water straining through a sandy soil.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Strain Strain, n. 1. The act of straining, or the state of being strained. Specifically: (a) A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles; as, he lifted the weight with a strain; the strain upon a ship's rigging in a gale; also, the hurt or injury resulting; a sprain. Whether any poet of our country since Shakespeare has exerted a greater variety of powers with less strain and less ostentation. --Landor. Credit is gained by custom, and seldom recovers a strain. --Sir W. Temple. (b) (Mech. Physics) A change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass, produced by a stress. --Rankine. 2. (Mus.) A portion of music divided off by a double bar; a complete musical period or sentence; a movement, or any rounded subdivision of a movement. Their heavenly harps a lower strain began. --Dryden. 3. 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, oration, book, etc.; theme; motive; manner; style; also, a course of action or conduct; as, he spoke in a noble strain; there was a strain of woe in his story; a strain of trickery appears in his career. ``A strain of gallantry.'' --Sir W. Scott. Such take too high a strain at first. --Bacon. The genius and strain of the book of Proverbs. --Tillotson. It [Pilgrim's Progress] seems a novelty, and yet contains Nothing but sound and honest gospel strains. --Bunyan. 4. Turn; tendency; inborn disposition. Cf. 1st Strain. Because heretics have a strain of madness, he applied her with some corporal chastisements. --Hayward.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(strains, straining, strained) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If strain is put on an organization or system, it has to do more than it is able to do. The prison service is already under considerable strain... The vast expansion in secondary education is putting an enormous strain on the system. = pressure N-VAR: oft under N, N on n 2. To strain something means to make it do more than it is able to do. The volume of scheduled flights is straining the air traffic control system... = stretch VERB: V n 3. Strain is a state of worry and tension caused by a difficult situation. She was tired and under great strain. ...the stresses and strains of a busy and demanding career. = stress N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl 4. If you say that a situation is a strain, you mean that it makes you worried and tense. I sometimes find it a strain to be responsible for the mortgage. N-SING: a N 5. Strain is a force that pushes, pulls, or stretches something in a way that may damage it. Place your hands under your buttocks to take some of the strain off your back... 6. Strain is an injury to a muscle in your body, caused by using the muscle too much or twisting it. Avoid muscle strain by warming up with slow jogging. N-VAR: usu n N 7. If you strain a muscle, you injure it by using it too much or twisting it. He strained his back during a practice session. VERB: V n 8. If you strain to do something, you make a great effort to do it when it is difficult to do. I had to strain to hear... They strained their eyes, but saw nothing. VERB: V to-inf, V n 9. When you strain food, you separate the liquid part of it from the solid parts. Strain the stock and put it back into the pan. VERB: V n 10. You can use strain to refer to a particular quality in someone's character, remarks, or work. There was a strain of bitterness in his voice. ...this cynical strain in the book. N-SING: with supp 11. A strain of a germ, plant, or other organism is a particular type of it. Every year new strains of influenza develop. N-COUNT: usu N of n 12. see also eye strain, repetitive strain injury

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

stran (diulizo, "to strain off," "to filter"): Mt 23:24, "Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel" The imagery is that of a drinking-vessel full of liquid, from which tiny impurities are carefully removed while immense masses of other impure matter (Le 11:4) are overlooked (compare Mt 7:3 f). The first edition of the King James Version read the same as the Revised Version (British and American), but in the later editions a misprint converted "strain out" into "strain at," an error that has never been corrected.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Stretch, draw tightly, make tense, make tight, tighten. 2. Wrench, sprain, injure by stretching. 3. Exert (to the utmost), put to the utmost strength. 4. Pervert (from the true intent), push too far. 5. Squeeze, press, embrace, hug, fold tightly in the arms. 6. Force, constrain, compel. 7. Filter, purify (by filtration), filtrate, percolate. 8. Fatigue, over-exert, tire, over-task, over-work. II. v. n. 1. Try hard, make great efforts. 2. Percolate, filter, be filtered, be strained. III. n. 1. Extreme tension. 2. Over-exertion, violent effort, great exertion. 3. Sprain, wrench. 4. Tune, melody, movement. 5. Poem, lay, song, sonnet. 6. Style, manner. 7. Turn, tendency, disposition, inborn disposition. 8. Bearing, conduct, port, manner of action. 9. Stock, race, descent, family, lineage, pedigree, descent, extraction.

Moby Thesaurus

Spenserian stanza, abrade, affectation, affiliation, agitation, aim, air, all-overs, anacrusis, ancestry, angst, animal kingdom, animus, antistrophe, anxiety, anxiety hysteria, anxiety neurosis, anxious bench, anxious concern, anxious seat, anxiousness, apparentation, apprehension, apprehensiveness, aptitude, aria, back down, balance, balk, bark, bass passage, be determined, belie, bent, bias, bid for, birth, bleed, blemish, blench, bloat, bloating, blood, bloodline, bloody, boggle, bolt, book, bourdon, bracket, brain fag, branch, brand, break, breaking point, breed, bridge, brood, burden, burn, cadence, camouflage, cankerworm of care, canto, cantus, care, cast, caste, category, chafe, character, check, chill, chilliness, chip, chorus, clan, clarify, class, claw, clear, coda, coldness, color, command of language, common ancestry, community, complexion, concern, concernment, consanguinity, constitution, contend for, continue, coolness, couplet, crack, crane, craze, culture, cut, damage, debate, debilitation, debility, decrassify, deliberate, demand, deme, demur, denomination, depurate, derivation, descant, descendants, descent, description, designation, determination, development, diathesis, direct line, disaffinity, discharge, disguise, disposition, disquiet, disquietude, distaff side, distension, distich, distill, distort, distress, disturbance, division, draft, drag, drag out, drain, draw, draw off, draw out, dread, dress up, drift, drive, eccentricity, edulcorate, effort, effuse, elongate, elongation, elute, embellish, embroider, emit, endeavor, enervation, enfeeblement, enmity, envoi, epode, essentialize, estate, ethnic group, evidence, exaggeration, exceed, excrete, exertion, exfiltrate, exposition, expression of ideas, extend, extension, extract, extraction, extravasate, extreme tension, exudate, exude, eyestrain, faintness, falsify, falter, family, fashion, fatigue, fear, feather, feeling for words, female line, fight shy of, figure, filiation, filter, filtrate, flinch, folderol, folk, force, foreboding, forebodingness, form, form of speech, fracture, fray, frazzle, fret, frost, fudge, gag, gall, garble, gash, genre, gens, genus, gild, give off, gloss, gloss over, goneness, grace of expression, grade, grain, grandiloquence, group, grouping, hang back, hang off, harass, harm, harmonic close, haul, have qualms, head, heading, heart strain, heave, hem and haw, heptastich, heritage, hesitate, hexastich, hint, hold off, house, hover, hum and haw, humor, hurt, iciness, idiosyncrasy, ilk, impair, impression, incise, inclination, incompatibility, incompatibleness, indication, individualism, inflate, inflation, inhospitality, inimicality, injure, injury, inquietude, interlude, intermezzo, introductory phrase, irk, jadedness, jib, kidney, kin, kind, label, labor, lacerate, languor, lassitude, lay, leach, leaning, lengthen, lengthen out, lengthening, let out, level, line, line of descent, lineage, literary style, lixiviate, lot, lug, maim, make, make an effort, make bones about, make mincemeat of, makeup, malaise, male line, manner, manner of speaking, mannerism, mark, mask, matriclan, maul, measure, melodia, melodic line, melody, mental fatigue, mental set, mental strain, mettle, mind, mind-set, miscite, miscolor, misconstrue, misdirect, misgiving, misinterpret, misquote, misrender, misreport, misrepresent, misstate, misuse, mode, mode of expression, moil, mold, monostich, mood, movement, music, musical phrase, musical sentence, mutilate, nation, nationality, nature, nervous strain, nervous tension, nervousness, note, number, obligation, octastich, octave, octet, ooze, order, ornament, ottava rima, overanxiety, overburden, overcarrying, overdevelop, overdistend, overdistension, overdoing, overdraw, overdrawing, overemphasis, overexercise, overexert, overexertion, overexpand, overexpansion, overexpenditure, overextend, overextension, overimportance, overreaching, overreaction, overstate, overstrain, overstraining, overstress, overstretch, overstretching, overtax, overtaxing, overtiredness, overuse, overwork, pain, parentage, part, passage, patriclan, pause, peculiarity, pedigree, pentastich, people, percolate, period, personal conflict, personal style, persuasion, perturbation, pervert, phrase, phratry, phylum, pierce, pigeonhole, pins and needles, plant kingdom, ponder, position, predicament, predilection, predisposition, preference, press, pressure, proclivity, produce, production, prolong, prolongate, prolongation, propensity, protract, protraction, pucker, pull, pull back, pull for, puncture, purify, push, quail, quality, quatrain, race, rack, rank, rating, recoil, rectify, reek, refine, refrain, rend, resolution, resolve, response, retreat, rhetoric, rhyme royal, rip, ritornello, roots, rubric, run, rupture, savage, scald, scorch, scotch, scrape, scratch, screen, scruple, scuff, section, seed, seek, seep, sense of language, separate, sept, septet, sestet, set, sew, sextet, shape, shilly-shally, shrink, shy, shy at, side, sieve, sift, sign, skin, slant, slash, sleepiness, slit, snapping point, society, solicitude, solo, solo part, song, soprano part, sort, sound, soupcon, spear side, species, speech community, spin out, spindle side, spirit, spiritualize, sprain, stab, stamp, stance fatigue, stanza, statement, station, status, stave, stem, stew, stick, stick at, stickle, stirps, stock, stop to consider, straddle the fence, strain at, strain every nerve, strain for, straining, strains, stratum, streak, stress, stress and strain, stressfulness, stretch, stretch out, stretching, string out, stringing out, stripe, strive, strive for, striving, strophe, struggle, struggle for, study, stumble, style, stylistic analysis, stylistics, subdivision, subgroup, sublimate, sublime, suborder, succession, suggestion, supererogation, surpass, suspense, suspicion, sweat, sweat blood, swell, swelling, sword side, syllable, tailpiece, tauten, tautness, tax, taxing, tear, temper, temperament, tendency, tenor, tense, tenseness, tension, tercet, terza rima, tetrastich, the grand style, the like of, the likes of, the plain style, the sublime, theme, think twice about, thread, tighten, tiredness, titivate, title, toil, tone, torture, totem, trace, trait, transpire, transude, traumatize, treble, tribe, trick, trick out, triplet, tristich, trouble, try, try for, try hard, tug, tune, turn, turn of mind, tutti, tutti passage, twist, type, unamiability, uncordiality, understate, uneasiness, unfriendliness, ungeniality, unquietness, unsociability, upset, variation, variety, varnish, vein, verse, vestige, vexation, warp, waver, way, weakness, wearifulness, weariness, weep, whitewash, wince, winnow, withdraw, work, worry, wound, wrench, yield, zeal