Strain : (noun)
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]
3: a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; "she
was humming an air from Beethoven" [syn: tune, melody,
air, 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: 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, 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, var.]
7: a lineage or race of people [syn: breed]
8: injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in
swelling and pain
9: pervading note of an utterance; "I could follow the general
tenor of his argument" [syn: tenor]
10: an effortful attempt to attain a goal [syn: striving, nisus,
pains]
11: an intense or violent exertion [syn: straining]
12: the act of singing; "with a shout and a song they marched up
to the gates" [syn: song]
(verb)
1: to exert much effort or energy; "straining our ears to hear"
[syn: strive, reach]
2: test the limits of; "You are trying my patience!" [syn: try,
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: extend]
4: separate by passing through a sieve or other straining
device to separate out coarser elements; "sift the flour"
[syn: sift, sieve]
5: make tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious; [syn: tense,
tense up] [ant: relax, relax]
6: stretch or force to the limit; "strain the rope" [syn: tense]
7: remove by passing through a filter; "filter out the
impurities" [syn: filter, filtrate, separate out, filter
out]
8: rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender;
"puree the vegetables for the baby" [syn: puree]
9: alter the shape of (something) by stress; "His body was
deformed by leprosy" [syn: deform, distort]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Strain : \Strain\, n. (Hort.)
A cultural subvariety that is only slightly differentiated.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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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.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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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.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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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.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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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.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Strain : Strain: 1. An injury to a tendon or muscle resulting from overuse or trauma. 2. A hereditary tendency that originated from a common ancestor. 3. To exert maximum effort. 4. To filter.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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