Strain
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strain¹
- /stɹeɪn/
Rhymes with -eɪn
Where it comes from
From Middle English streen, strene, streon, istreon (“race, stock, generation”), from Old English strēon, ġestrēon (“gain, wealth”), from Proto-West Germanic *streun, from Proto-Germanic *streuną (“heap, treasure, profit, gain”), from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to spread, strew”) (cognate with Old Saxon gistriuni, Old High German gistriuni (“gain, property, wealth, business”), Latin strues (“heap”)). Confused in Middle English with the related noun strend, strynd, strund, from Old English strȳnd (“race; stock”), from strēonan, strȳnan (“to beget; acquire”). Related also to Dutch struinen (“to prowl, root about, rout”).
noun strains
- Race; lineage, pedigree. He is of a noble strain.
- 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.
- Hereditary character, quality, tendency, or disposition. There is a strain of madness in her family.
- 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. Yet Keats, though for so many years he has given nothing to the world, is understood to have devoted himself to the composition of an epic poem. Some passages of it have been communicated to the inner circle of his admirers, and impressed them as the loftiest strains that have been audible on earth
- Language that is eloquent, poetic, or otherwise heightened.
- A kind or sort (of person etc.). the common strain
- Treasure.
- The blood-vessel in the yolk of an egg.
strain²
- /stɹeɪn/
Rhymes with -eɪn
Where it comes from
From Middle English straynen, streinen, streynen, from Old French estreindre (whence French étreindre (“to grip”)), from Latin stringō (“to draw tight together, to tie”).
verb strains · straining · strained
- To hold tightly, to clasp. So hauing said, her twixt her armes twaine / She straightly straynd, and colled tenderly […]
- To apply a force or forces to by stretching out. to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship
- To damage by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force. The gale strained the timbers of the ship.
- To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as when bending a beam.
- 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 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
- 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.
- To percolate; to be filtered. water straining through a sandy soil
- 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; […]
- To urge with importunity; to press. to strain a petition or invitation
- To make great demands on something. a story that strains credulity
- To hug somebody; to hold somebody tightly.
noun strains
- The act of straining, or the state of being strained. Nevertheless, it is clear that the global energy demand for air-conditioning will grow substantially as nations become more affluent,[…]. This trend will put additional strain not only on global energy resources but also on the environmental prospects of a warming planet.
- A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles. he jumped up with a strain
- An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain. They used steroids to build strength but, more importantly, to recover from strains, pulls, dislocations.
- 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.
- 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.
strain³
- /stɹeɪn/
Rhymes with -eɪn
Where it comes from
From Middle English strenen (“to beget, father, procreate”), from Old English strēonan, strīenan, strȳnan (“to beget, generate, gain, acquire”), from Proto-West Germanic *striunijan, from Proto-Germanic *striunijaną (“to furnish, decorate, acquire”).
verb strains · straining · strained
- 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.
Strain⁴
proper noun Strains
- A surname.
