What does strain mean?
Definitions for strain
streɪnstrain
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word strain.
Princeton's WordNet
strainnoun
(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
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
tune, melody, air, strain, melodic line, line, melodic phrasenoun
a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
"she was humming an air from Beethoven"
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"
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"
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"
strainnoun
injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain
tenor, strainnoun
the general meaning or substance of an utterance
"although I disagreed with him I could follow the tenor of his argument"
striving, nisus, pains, strainnoun
an effortful attempt to attain a goal
strain, strainingnoun
an intense or violent exertion
song, strainverb
the act of singing
"with a shout and a song they marched up to the gates"
strive, reach, strainverb
to exert much effort or energy
"straining our ears to hear"
try, strain, stressverb
test the limits of
"You are trying my patience!"
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"
sift, sieve, strainverb
separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements
"sift the flour"
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"
strain, tenseverb
become stretched or tense or taut
"the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed;" "the rope strained when the weight was attached"
filter, filtrate, strain, separate out, filter outverb
remove by passing through a filter
"filter out the impurities"
puree, strainverb
rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender
"puree the vegetables for the baby"
deform, distort, strainverb
alter the shape of (something) by stress
"His body was deformed by leprosy"
Webster Dictionary
Strainnoun
race; stock; generation; descent; family
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainnoun
hereditary character, quality, or disposition
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainnoun
rank; a sort
Etymology: [See Strene.]
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
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainadjective
to act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainadjective
to exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously
Etymology: [See Strene.]
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
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainadjective
to injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship
Etymology: [See Strene.]
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
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainadjective
to squeeze; to press closely
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainadjective
to make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainadjective
to urge with importunity; to press; as, to strain a petition or invitation
Etymology: [See Strene.]
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
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainverb
to make violent efforts
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainverb
to percolate; to be filtered; as, water straining through a sandy soil
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainnoun
the act of straining, or the state of being strained
Etymology: [See Strene.]
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
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainnoun
a change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass, produced by a stress
Etymology: [See Strene.]
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
Etymology: [See Strene.]
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
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Strainnoun
turn; tendency; inborn disposition. Cf. 1st Strain
Etymology: [See Strene.]
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
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.]
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
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
strain
Song lyrics by strain -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by strain on the Lyrics.com website.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'strain' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4159
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'strain' in Nouns Frequency: #1423
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'strain' in Verbs Frequency: #943
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of strain in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of strain in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9
Examples of strain in a Sentence
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.
It was sincerely never my intention to discourage anyone's access to their elected officials. I now understand how my poor choice of words may have led a few attendees to draw this conclusion and I offer my humble apology for causing any undue strain on the command and its mission.
They've been studied and we know that after you had a cold, you develop antibodies to that particular human strain of coronavirus and you will be protected, but it turns out the protection begins to wane after about a year.
Every district will be required to submit a plan to ensure children of healthcare workers and first responders have access to child care so these closures do not strain our hospitals and that children who depend on school meal programs continue getting the support they need.
Iran backs Shi’a groups and Saudi Arabia backs ones that adhere to Saudi Arabia own strain of Sunni Muslims doctrine, iran sees this as a largely defensive operation – protecting co-religionists against a violent onslaught that the Pakistan state is unwilling or unable to stave off.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for strain
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- سلالةArabic
- colarCatalan, Valencian
- kmenCzech
- Erregerstamm, StammGerman
- έντασηGreek
- tensión, trazas, colar, elongar, tamizar, tipo, claseSpanish
- kuormittaa, rasittaa, venäyttää, kiristää, siivilöidäFinnish
- race, variété, héréditéFrench
- freang, sníomhIrish
- sìolaidhScottish Gaelic
- coarGalician
- tendere, predisposizione, scolare, razza, disposizione, tirare, slogare, varietà, carattere ereditario, colare, passare, forzare, ceppoItalian
- מתחHebrew
- 歪みJapanese
- 켕기다, 당기다, 거르다Korean
- riaka, tātari, whakawhēnanauMāori
- overstrekken, forceren, afscheiden, scheiden, aanspannen, aantrekken, zevenDutch
- colarOccitan
- szczepPolish
- tensãoPortuguese
- strecuraRomanian
- сорт, порода, род, штаммRussian
- திரிபுTamil
- ความเครียดThai
- gerilmeTurkish
- sự căng thẳngVietnamese
- 應變Chinese
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"strain." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 25 May 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/strain>.
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