Definitions for strain
streɪnstrain

Princeton's WordNet(4.33 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. strainnoun

   (physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces

2. stress, strainnoun

   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

3. tune, melody, air, strain, melodic line, line, melodic phrasenoun

   a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence

   "she was humming an air from Beethoven"

4. strain, mental strain, nervous strainnoun

   (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"

5. breed, strain, stocknoun

   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"

6. form, variant, strain, var.noun

   (biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups

   "a new strain of microorganisms"

7. strainnoun

   injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain

8. tenor, strainnoun

   the general meaning or substance of an utterance

   "although I disagreed with him I could follow the tenor of his argument"

9. striving, nisus, pains, strainnoun

   an effortful attempt to attain a goal

10. strain, strainingnoun

    an intense or violent exertion

11. song, strainverb

    the act of singing

    "with a shout and a song they marched up to the gates"

12. strive, reach, strainverb

    to exert much effort or energy

    "straining our ears to hear"

13. try, strain, stressverb

    test the limits of

    "You are trying my patience!"

14. strain, extendverb

    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"

15. sift, sieve, strainverb

    separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements

    "sift the flour"

16. tense, strain, tense upverb

    cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious

    "he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up"

17. strain, tenseverb

    become stretched or tense or taut

    "the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;" "the rope strained when the weight was attached"

18. filter, filtrate, strain, separate out, filter outverb

    remove by passing through a filter

    "filter out the impurities"

19. puree, strainverb

    rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender

    "puree the vegetables for the baby"

20. deform, distort, strainverb

    alter the shape of (something) by stress

    "His body was deformed by leprosy"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Strainnoun

   Etymology: from the verb.

   1. An injury by too much violence.

   Credit is gained by custom, and seldom recovers a strain; but if broken, is never well set again. William Temple.

   In all pain there is a deformity by a solution of continuity, as in cutting; or a tendency to solution, as in convulsions or strains. Nehemiah Grew.

   2. [ stenge , Saxon.] Race; generation; descent.

   Edmund Spenser.

   Thus far I can praise him; he is of a noble strain,
   Of approv’d valour. William Shakespeare.

   Twelve Trojan youths, born of their noblest strains,
   I took alive: and, yet enrag’d, will empty all their veins
   Of vital spirits. George Chapman, Iliad.

   Why do’st thou falsly feign
   Thyself a Philip Sidney? from which noble strain
   He sprung, that could so far exalt the name
   Of love. Edmund Waller.

   Turn then to Pharamond, and Charlemagne,
   And the long heroes of the Gallick strain. Matthew Prior.

   3. Hereditary disposition.

   Amongst these sweet knaves and all this courtesy! the strain of man’s bred out into baboon and monkey. William Shakespeare.

   Intemperance and lust breed diseases, which propagated, spoil the strain of a nation. John Tillotson.

   4. A stile or manner of speaking.

   According to the genius and strain of the book of Proverbs, the words wisdom and righteousness are used to signify all religion and virtue. John Tillotson, Sermons.

   In our liturgy are as great strains of true sublime eloquence, as are any where to be found in our language. Jonathan Swift.

   Macrobius speaks of Hippocrates’ knowlege in very lofty strains. Thomas Baker.

   5. Song; note; sound.

   Wilt thou love such a woman? what, to make thee an instrument, and play false strains upon thee. William Shakespeare.

   Orpheus self may heave his head
   From golden slumber on a bed
   Of heap’d Elysian flowers, and hear
   Such strains as would have won the ear
   Of Pluto, to have quite set free
   His half-regain’d Eurydice. John Milton.

   Their heav’nly harps a lower strain began,
   And in soft musick mourn the fall of man. Dryden.

   When the first bold vessel dar’d the seas,
   High on the stern the Thracian rais’d his strain,
   While Argo saw her kindred trees
   Descend from Pelion to the main. Alexander Pope, St. Cecilia.

   6. Rank; character.

   But thou who lately of the common strain,
   Wert one of us, if still thou do’st retain
   The same ill habits, the same follies too,
   Still thou art bound to vice, and still a slave. Dryden.

   7. Turn; tendency.

   Because hereticks have a strain of madness, he applied her with some corporal chastisements, which with respite of time might haply reduce her to good order. John Hayward.

   8. Manner of violent speech or action.

   You have shew’d to-day your valiant strain,
   And fortune led you well. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   Such take too high a strain at the first, and are magnanimous more than tract of years can uphold, as was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith, ultima primis cedebant. Francis Bacon.

2. To STRAINverb

   Etymology: estreindre, French.

   1. To squeeze through something.

   Their aliment ought to be light, rice boiled in whey and strained. John Arbuthnot, on Diet.

   2. To purify by filtration.

   Earth doth not strain water so finely as sand. Francis Bacon.

   3. To squeeze in an embrace.

   I would have strain’d him with a strict embrace;
   But through my arms he slipt and vanish’d. Dryden.

   Old Evander, with a close embrace,
   Strain’d his departing friend; and tears o’erflow his face. John Dryden, Æneid.

   4. To sprain; to weaken by too much violence.

   The jury make no more scruple to pass against an Englishman and the queen, though it be to strain their oaths, than to drink milk unstrained. Edmund Spenser, State of Ireland.

   Prudes decay’d about may tack,
   Strain their necks with looking back. Jonathan Swift.

   5. To put to its utmost strength.

   By this we see in a cause of religion, to how desperate adventures men will strain themselves for relief of their own part, having law and authority against them. Richard Hooker.

   Too well I wote my humble vaine,
   And how my rhimes been rugged and unkempt;
   Yet as I con my cunning I will strain. Edmund Spenser.

   Thus mine enemy fell,
   And thus I set my foot on’s neck; —— even then
   The princely blood flows in his cheek, he sweats,
   Strains his young nerves, and puts himself in posture
   That acts my words. William Shakespeare, Cymbeline.

   My earthly by his heavenly overpower’d,
   Which it had long stood under, strain’d to th’ height
   In that celestial colloquy sublime,
   As with an object that excels the sense,
   Dazled and spent, sunk down. John Milton, Parad. Lost.

   The lark and linnet sing with rival notes;
   They strain their warbling throats,
   To welcome in the spring. Dryden.

   Nor yet content, she strains her malice more,
   And adds new ills to those contriv’d before. Dryden.

   It is the worst sort of good husbandry for a father not to strain himself a little for his son’s breeding. John Locke.

   Our words flow from us in a smooth continued stream, without those strainings of the voice, motions of the body, and majesty of the hand, which are so much celebrated in the orators of Greece and Rome. Francis Atterbury.

   Strain’d to the root, the stooping forest pours
   A rustling shower of yet untimely leaves. James Thomson.

   6. To make strait or tense.

   A bigger string more strained, and a lesser string less strained, may fall into the same tone. Francis Bacon.

   Thou, the more he varies forms, beware
   To strain his fetters with a stricter care. John Dryden, Virgil.

   7. To push beyond the proper extent.

   See they suffer death,
   But in their deaths remember they are men,
   Strain not the laws to make their torture grievous. Addison.

   There can be no other meaning in this expression, however some may pretend to strain it. Jonathan Swift.

   8. To force; to constrain; to make uneasy or unnatural.

   The lark sings so out of tune,
   Straining harsh discords and unpleasing strains. William Shakespeare.

   He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirth
   Is forc’d and strain’d: in his looks appears
   A wild distracted fierceness. John Denham.

3. To Strainverb

   To make violent efforts.

   To build his fortune I will strain a little,
   For ’tis a bond in men. William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens.

   You stand like greyhounds in the slips,
   Straining upon the start. William Shakespeare, Hen. V.

   They strain,
   That death may not them idly find t’ attend
   Their certain last, but work to meet their end. Daniel.

   Straining with too weak a wing,
   We needs will write epistles to the king. Alexander Pope.

   2. To be filtred by compression.

   Cæsar thought that all sea sands had natural springs of fresh water: but it is the sea water; because the pit filled according to the measure of the tide, and the sea water passing or straining through the sands leaveth the saltness behind them. Francis Bacon.

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Strainnoun

   race; stock; generation; descent; family

2. Strainnoun

   hereditary character, quality, or disposition

3. Strainnoun

   rank; a sort

4. Strainadjective

   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

5. Strainadjective

   to act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it

6. Strainadjective

   to exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously

7. Strainadjective

   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

8. Strainadjective

   to injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship

9. Strainadjective

   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

10. Strainadjective

    to squeeze; to press closely

11. Strainadjective

    to make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain

12. Strainadjective

    to urge with importunity; to press; as, to strain a petition or invitation

13. Strainadjective

    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

14. Strainverb

    to make violent efforts

15. Strainverb

    to percolate; to be filtered; as, water straining through a sandy soil

16. Strainnoun

    the act of straining, or the state of being strained

17. Strainnoun

    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

18. Strainnoun

    a change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass, produced by a stress

19. Strainnoun

    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

20. Strainnoun

    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

21. Strainnoun

    turn; tendency; inborn disposition. Cf. 1st Strain

22. Etymology: [See Strene.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Strain

   strān, v.t. to stretch tight: to draw with force: to exert to the utmost: to injure by overtasking: to make tight: to constrain, make uneasy or unnatural: to press to one's self, to embrace: to pass through a filter.—v.i. to make violent efforts: to filter.—n. the act of straining: a violent effort: an injury inflicted by straining, esp. a wrenching of the muscles: a note, sound, or song, stretch of imagination, &c.: any change of form or bulk of a portion of matter either solid or fluid, the system of forces which sustains the strain being called the stress: mood, disposition.—ns. Strain′er, one who, or that which, strains: an instrument for filtration: a sieve, colander, &c.; Strain′ing, a piece of leather for stretching as a base for the seat of a saddle.—Strain a point, to make a special effort: to exceed one's duty; Strain at, in Matt. xxiii. 24, a misprint for Strain out. [O. Fr. straindre—L. stringĕre, to stretch tight. Cf. String and Strong.]

2. Strain

   strān, n. race, stock, generation: descent: natural tendency, any admixture or element in one's character.—n. Strain′ing-beam, a tie-beam uniting the tops of the queen-posts. [M. E. streen—A.S. gestréon, gain; confused in M. E. with the related M. E. strend—A.S. strynd, lineage.]

The Standard Electrical Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Strain

   The condition of a body when subjected to a stress. Various consequences may ensue from strain in the way of disturbance of electric and other qualities of the body strained.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. strain

   Song lyrics by strain -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by strain on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Animal Group
   • Biology
   • Cooking
   • Deformation
   • Difficulty
   • Effort
   • Injury
   • Meaning
   • Music
   • Nervousness
   • Physics
   • Psychology
   • Rub
   • Separate
   • Taxonomic Group
   • Variety

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'strain' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4159

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'strain' in Nouns Frequency: #1423

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'strain' in Verbs Frequency: #943

Anagrams for strain »

1. instar

2. santir

How to pronounce strain?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say strain in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of strain in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of strain in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of strain in a Sentence

1. Stephen Harper:

   We are tracking this very closely. The system is clearly not under anywhere near the strain it was a year ago, but nevertheless we remain concerned. ... This is a major, major export for this country.

2. Kee Kim:

   It’s not just that standing and sitting upright looks better. When you slouch forward at your desk, you are putting almost twice as much strain on the disks than if you were sitting straight up.

3. Lakshheish M Patel:

   Share traders can go off to sleep as nothing major will happen in the stock market until the last one hour of session today. Don't waste time and strain your eyes before the computer screen. Market will fall father as it appears

4. John Sifton:

   What was going on was the typical chaos of a bureaucracy under the strain of immense crisis, people at checkpoints hadn't slept well in days, couldn't read the names properly or read the first name as the last name.

5. Richard Besser:

   I haven't seen convincing evidence that it’s more severe. I think the jury is out on that, but just the fact that so many more children are being infected with this strain means that there will be more children who have severe disease, there will be more children who are hospitalized and unfortunately there will be more children who die from COVID and that’s not something we should allow to happen.

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