strain

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Race

   Race; lineage, pedigree.

   • He is of a noble strain.
   • […] with animals and plants a cross between different varieties, or between individuals of the same variety but of another strain, gives vigour and fertility to the offspring; […]
2. 2

   A particular variety of a microbe, virus, or other organism, usually a taxonomically…

   A particular variety of a microbe, virus, or other organism, usually a taxonomically infraspecific one.

   • They say this year's flu virus is a particularly virulent strain.
   • European scientists have discovered a new strain of the virus that causes AIDS and linked it to gorillas, creating a mystery about when and how the first patient found to have the strain became infected.
3. 3

   Hereditary character, quality, tendency, or disposition.

   • There is a strain of madness in her family.
   • Intemperance and Luſt breed infirmities and diſeaſes, which, being propagated, ſpoil the Strain of a Nation.
4. ›+ 23 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Any sustained note or movement

      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, etc.

      • A baby gurgled, a photographer dropped her lens cap, and the strains of the U.S. Army Brass Quintet echoed off the murals depicting seminal moments in American history.
   2. 5

      Language that is eloquent, poetic, or otherwise heightened.

   3. 6

      A kind or sort (of person etc.).

      • the common strain
   4. 7

      Treasure.

   5. 8

      The blood-vessel in the yolk of an egg.

   6. 9

      To hold tightly, to clasp.

      • So hauing said, her twixt her armes twaine / She straightly straynd, and colled tenderly […]
      • Evander with a close embrace / Strained his departing friend.
      • "Farewell!"—the mother strained her child to her heart again, and again put her from her, to embrace her more closely.
   7. 10

      To apply a force or forces to by stretching out.

      • to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship
      • Relations between the United States and Guatemala traditionally have been close, although at times strained by human rights and civil/military issues.
   8. 11

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

      • The gale strained the timbers of the ship.
   9. 12

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

   10. 13

       To exert or struggle (to do something), especially to stretch (one's senses, faculties…

       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.
       • To build his fortune I will strain a little.
       • He sweats, / Strains his young nerves.
   11. 14

       To stretch beyond its proper limit

       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
       • There can be no other meaning in this expression, however some may pretend to strain it.
   12. 15

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

       • Strain the noodles and rinse with fresh water until it runs clear. The noodles should be soft, but not mushy.
       • Except for the indigo, the dyebaths are steeped over heat to release their pigment and then strained to remove the dyestuff.
   13. 16

       To percolate

       To percolate; to be filtered.

       • water straining through a sandy soil
   14. 17

       To make uneasy or unnatural

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

       • Prince. How does my Father? / Princeſs. Still talks and plays with Fatyma, but his mirth / Is forc'd and ſtrain'd: In his look appears / A wild diſtracted fierceneſs; […]
       • The quality of mercy is not strained.
   15. 18

       To urge with importunity

       To urge with importunity; to press.

       • to strain a petition or invitation
       • Note, if your lady strain his entertainment.
   16. 19

       To hug somebody

       To hug somebody; to hold somebody tightly.

   17. 20

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

   18. 21

       A violent effort

       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
   19. 22

       An injury resulting from violent effort

       An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain.

       • They used steroids to build strength but, more importantly, to recover from strains, pulls, dislocations.
   20. 23

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

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

       • Detailed records are kept of the strains imposed on the bridge by the violent gales that frequently sweep the firth, and a self-recording wind gauge is fixed on the top of the tower.
   21. 24

       The track of a deer.

       • When they have shot a Deere by land, they follow him like bloud-hounds by the bloud, and straine, and oftentimes so take them.
   22. 25

       To beget, generate (of light), engender, copulate (both of animals and humans), lie with,…

       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.
       • Man, look at that cat straining that kitty.
       • Sir, as I have a soul, ſhe is an Angell; / Our King has all the Indies in his Armes, / And more, and richer, when he ſtraines that Lady, / I cannot blame his Conſcience.
   23. 26

       A surname.

The neighborhood

• neighborstrew
• neighborstress
• neighborstrict
• neighborstringent