Word Explorer

Straining

To hold tightly, to clasp.

📖 Definitions of "Straining"

verb

1
To hold tightly, to clasp.
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
To damage by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force.
"The gale strained the timbers of the ship."
4
To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as when bending a beam.

verb

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."

noun

9 synonyms found via WordNet and Google Books.

Word	Definition
arduous	Needing or using up much energy; testing powers of endurance.
strainnoun	(biology) A particular variety of a microbe, virus, or other organism, usually a taxonomically infraspecific one.
effortful	Requiring or showing effort.
stressnoun	(uncountable) Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal.
strenuous	(of a task) Requiring great exertion; very laborious.
torturenoun	The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish.
distortionnoun	A misrepresentation of the truth.
twistingnoun	Having many twists
overrefinementnoun	Excessive refinement.

Found via reverse dictionary — words that share a conceptual meaning.

Word	Definition
stressverb	(intransitive, informal) To suffer stress; to worry or be agitated.
arduous	Needing or using up much energy; testing powers of endurance.
effortful	Requiring or showing effort.
strenuous	(of a task) Requiring great exertion; very laborious.
distortionnoun	A misrepresentation of the truth.
tortureverb	The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish.
overrefinementnoun	Excessive refinement.
twistingnoun	Having many twists
exhausting	Very tiring.
stiflingnoun	That stifles.
ruiningnoun	The act or process by which something is ruined.
suffocatingnoun	That tends to suffocate the target(s); so overwhelming and lethal or life-threatening as to suffocate; suffocative.
drainingnoun	(comparable) Causing a depletion of energy or resources; exhausting.
screeningnoun	The showing of a film, typically by projecting it on a screen.
sievingnoun	The act of passing something through a sieve.
causingnoun	the act of causing something to happen
depletingnoun	Depletion.
encumbering	Acting as an encumbrance; cumbersome; burdensome or serving to impede progress.
tensingnoun	The act of making something tense.
stretchingnoun	A form of physical exercise in which a specific skeletal muscle (or muscle group) is deliberately elongated to its fullest length in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and reaffirm comfortable muscle tone.