strain

/stɹeɪ̯n/

noun

  1. 1

    Treasure.

  2. 2

    The blood-vessel in the yolk of an egg.

  3. 3

    Race; lineage, pedigree.

  4. 4

    Hereditary character, quality, or disposition.

    There is a strain of madness in her family.
  5. 5

    A tendency or disposition.

  6. 6

    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

  7. 7

    A particular breed or race of animal, microbe etc.

    They say this year's flu virus is a particularly virulent strain.
  8. 8

    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.

  9. 9

    A kind or sort (of person etc.).

  10. 10

    Language that is eloquent, poetic, or otherwise heightened.

noun

  1. 1

    The act of straining, or the state of being strained.

  2. 2

    A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles.

    he jumped up with a strain;   the strain upon the sailboat's rigging
  3. 3

    An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain.

  4. 4

    A dimensionless measure of object deformation either referring to engineering strain or true strain.

  5. 5

    The track of a deer.

verb

  1. 1

    To hold tightly, to clasp.

  2. 2

    To apply a force or forces to by stretching out.

    Relations between the United States and Guatemala traditionally have been close, although at times strained by human rights and civil/military issues.
  3. 3

    To damage by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force.

    The gale strained the timbers of the ship.
  4. 4

    To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as when bending a beam.

  5. 5

    To exert or struggle (to do something), especially to stretch (one's senses, faculties etc.) beyond what is normal or comfortable.

    Sitting in back, I strained to hear the speaker.
  6. 6

    To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in terms of intent or meaning.

    to strain the law in order to convict an accused person
  7. 7

    To separate solid from liquid by passing through a strainer or colander

  8. 8

    To percolate; to be filtered.

    water straining through a sandy soil
  9. 9

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

  10. 10

    To urge with importunity; to press.

    to strain a petition or invitation
  11. 11

    Hug somebody; to hold somebody tightly.

verb

  1. 1

    To beget, generate (of light), engender, copulate (both of animals and humans), lie with, be born, come into the world.

    A man straineth, liveth, then dieth.

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