Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Strain   /streɪn/   Listen
Strain

noun
1.
(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces.
2.
Difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension.  Synonym: stress.  "He presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger"
3.
A succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence.  Synonyms: air, line, melodic line, melodic phrase, melody, tune.
4.
(psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress.  Synonyms: mental strain, nervous strain.  "The mental strain of staying alert hour after hour was too much for him"
5.
A special variety of domesticated animals within a species.  Synonyms: breed, stock.  "He created a new strain of sheep"
6.
(biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups.  Synonyms: form, var., variant.
7.
Injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain.
8.
The general meaning or substance of an utterance.  Synonym: tenor.
9.
An effortful attempt to attain a goal.  Synonyms: nisus, pains, striving.
10.
An intense or violent exertion.  Synonym: straining.
11.
The act of singing.  Synonym: song.
verb
(past & past part. strained; pres. part. straining)
1.
To exert much effort or energy.  Synonyms: reach, strive.
2.
Test the limits of.  Synonyms: stress, try.
3.
Use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity.  Synonym: extend.  "Don't strain your mind too much"
4.
Separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements.  Synonyms: sieve, sift.
5.
Cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious.  Synonyms: tense, tense up.  Antonyms: relax, unstrain.
6.
Become stretched or tense or taut.  Synonym: tense.  "The rope strained when the weight was attached"
7.
Remove by passing through a filter.  Synonyms: filter, filter out, filtrate, separate out.
8.
Rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender.  Synonym: puree.
9.
Alter the shape of (something) by stress.  Synonyms: deform, distort.



Related searches:
strain gage
strain gauge
cotton strain
mental strain
nervous strain
overstrain
poinsettia strain
strainer
straining


WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar




"Strain" Quotes from Famous Books



... so sad to see Fleda working on, that it was more disheartening and harder to bear than the fatigue. Hugh was a most faithful and invaluable coadjutor, and his lack of strength was like her own made up by energy of will; but neither of them could bear the strain long; and when the final clearing away of the dinner-dishes gave her a breathing-time she resolved to dress herself and put her thimble in her pocket and go over to Miss Finn's quilting. Miss Lucy might not be like Miss Anastasia; and if she were, anything that ...
— Queechy • Susan Warner
... you will excuse us, For we and our attending Muses May live to change our strain; And turn, with merry hearts, our tune, Upon some happy tenth of June, To "the king ...
— Poems (Volume II.) • Jonathan Swift
... his mother, but when he did, it was delightful to hear him, because the mention of her awoke an unusual strain of gentleness and tenderness in him. There was such a ring of respectful affection, so much reverence for her memory, in his words, that we all looked on her ...
— Reminiscences of Tolstoy - By His Son • Ilya Tolstoy
... the former in the same strain—"it is possible Miss Haviland may be willing to qualify her last remark a little, when she is reminded of the existence of a certain marriage contract, to which she ...
— The Rangers - [Subtitle: The Tory's Daughter] • D. P. Thompson
... ourselves, or is it towards mankind generally? Do we not cease to belong to our own circumscribed circle, and become part of the great family of all? As we ascend we feel an increased pressure on our virtue. The higher we rise, the greater is the strain. The increase of right is an increase of duty. We come to many cross-ways, phantom roads perchance, and we imagine that we see the finger of conscience pointing each one of them out to us. Which shall we take? Change our direction, remain where ...
— The Man Who Laughs • Victor Hugo


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com