Strain

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Strained p. pr. & vb. n. Straining. ] [ OF. estraindre, estreindre, F. étreindre, L. stringere to draw or bind tight; probably akin to Gr. &unr_; a halter, &unr_; that which is squeezwd out, a drop, or perhaps to E. strike. Cf. Strangle, Strike, Constrain, District, Strait, a. Stress, Strict, Stringent. ] 1. To draw with force; to extend with great effort; to stretch; as, to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship; to strain the cords of a musical instrument. “To strain his fetters with a stricter care.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mech.) To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously. [ 1913 Webster ]

He sweats,
Strains his young nerves. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

They strain their warbling throats
To welcome in the spring. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in the matter of intent or meaning; as, to strain the law in order to convict an accused person. [ 1913 Webster ]

There can be no other meaning in this expression, however some may pretend to strain it. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To injure in the muscles or joints by causing to make too strong an effort; to harm by overexertion; to sprain; as, to strain a horse by overloading; to strain the wrist; to strain a muscle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Prudes decayed about may track,
Strain their necks with looking back. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To squeeze; to press closely. [ 1913 Webster ]

Evander with a close embrace
Strained his departing friend. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain. [ 1913 Webster ]

He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirth
Is forced and strained. Denham. [ 1913 Webster ]

The quality of mercy is not strained. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To urge with importunity; to press; as, to strain a petition or invitation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Note, if your lady strain his entertainment. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. To press, or cause to pass, through a strainer, as through a screen, a cloth, or some porous substance; to purify, or separate from extraneous or solid matter, by filtration; to filter; as, to strain milk through cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

To strain a point, to make a special effort; especially, to do a degree of violence to some principle or to one's own feelings. --
To strain courtesy, to go beyond what courtesy requires; to insist somewhat too much upon the precedence of others; -- often used ironically. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of straining, or the state of being strained. Specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(a) A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles; as, he lifted the weight with a strain; the strain upon a ship's rigging in a gale; also, the hurt or injury resulting; a sprain. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whether any poet of our country since Shakespeare has exerted a greater variety of powers with less strain and less ostentation. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Credit is gained by custom, and seldom recovers a strain. Sir W. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) (Mech. Physics) A change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass, produced by a stress. Rankine. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mus.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their heavenly harps a lower strain began. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. 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; also, a course of action or conduct; as, he spoke in a noble strain; there was a strain of woe in his story; a strain of trickery appears in his career. “A strain of gallantry.” Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such take too high a strain at first. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

The genius and strain of the book of Proverbs. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

It [ Pilgrim's Progress ] seems a novelty, and yet contains
Nothing but sound and honest gospel strains. Bunyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Turn; tendency; inborn disposition. Cf. 1st Strain. [ 1913 Webster ]

Because heretics have a strain of madness, he applied her with some corporal chastisements. Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To make violent efforts. “Straining with too weak a wing.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

To build his fortune I will strain a little. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To percolate; to be filtered; as, water straining through a sandy soil. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Capable of being strained. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Violent in action. Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Violently. Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Subjected to great or excessive tension; wrenched; weakened; as, strained relations between old friends. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Done or produced with straining or excessive effort; as, his wit was strained. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who strains. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That through which any liquid is passed for purification or to separate it from solid matter; anything, as a screen or a cloth, used to strain a liquid; a device of the character of a sieve or of a filter; specifically, an openwork or perforated screen, as for the end of the suction pipe of a pump, to prevent large solid bodies from entering with a liquid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Strain. [ 1913 Webster ]

Straining piece (Arch.), a short piece of timber in a truss, used to maintain the ends of struts or rafters, and keep them from slipping. See Illust. of Queen-post. [ 1913 Webster ]