strain

noun

1. (archaic)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. 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. (figuratively)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. 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 since Milton’s days.”

   “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.”

5. Language that is eloquent, poetic, or otherwise heightened.
6. (rare)A kind or sort (of person etc.).

   “the common strain”

7. (obsolete)Treasure.
8. (obsolete)The blood-vessel in the yolk of an egg.
9. (countable, uncountable)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.”

   “If the Menai Bridge, for instance, were loaded at that rate, the entire strain on the main chains would be about 2000 tons ; while the chains containing 260 square inches of iron would bear, at 9 tons per square inch, 2340 tons, without stretching ...”

   “Therefore, the goal of this study is to assess the influence of strain on the corrosion resistance of passivated Nitinol and stainless steel implant materials. Materials and Methods Nitinol (50.8%at. Ni) wire (NDC, Fremont, CA) and 316L stainless ...”

10. (countable, uncountable)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”

11. (countable, uncountable)An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain.

    “They used steroids to build strength but, more importantly, to recover from strains, pulls, dislocations.”

    “Dirk Kuyt sandwiched a goal in between Carroll's double as City endured a night of total misery, with captain Carlos Tevez limping off early on with a hamstring strain that puts a serious question mark over his participation in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Wembley.”

12. (uncountable)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.”

13. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)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.”

verb

1. (obsolete, transitive)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.”

2. (transitive)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.”

3. (transitive)To damage by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force.

   “The gale strained the timbers of the ship.”

4. (transitive)To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as when bending a beam.
5. (ambitransitive)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.”

   “They strain their warbling throats / To welcome in the spring.”

   “Thus my plight was evil indeed, for I had nothing now to burn to give me light, and knew that 'twas no use setting to grout till I could see to go about it. Moreover, the darkness was of that black kind that is never found beneath the open sky, no, not even on the darkest night, but lurks in close and covered places and strains the eyes in trying to see into it.”

6. (transitive)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.”

7. (transitive)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.”

8. (intransitive)To percolate; to be filtered.

   “water straining through a sandy soil”

9. (transitive)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.”

10. (transitive)To urge with importunity; to press.

    “to strain a petition or invitation”

    “Note, if your lady strain his entertainment.”

11. (transitive)To hug somebody; to hold somebody tightly.
12. (obsolete)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.”

name

1. A surname.