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STRAIN definition: 1. a force or influence that stretches, pulls, or puts pressure on something, sometimes causing…. Learn more.
1. a. : lineage, ancestry. b. : a group of presumed common ancestry with clear-cut physiological but usually not morphological distinctions. a high-yielding strain of winter wheat. broadly : a specified infraspecific group (such as a stock, line, or ecotype) c. : kind, sort.
Strain definition: to draw tight or taut, especially to the utmost tension; stretch to the full. See examples of STRAIN used in a sentence.
To strain is to stretch tightly, make taut, wrench, tear, cause injury to, by long-continued or sudden and too violent effort or movement: to strain one's heart by overexertion, one's eyes by reading small print.
a. Extreme or laborious effort, exertion, or work: moved the sofa with little strain. b. A great or excessive demand or stress on one's body, mind, or resources: the strain of managing both a family and a career. c. The state of being subjected to such demands or stresses: trying to work under great strain. 3.
a feeling of being worried and nervous about something: The strain of the last few months had exhausted her. put a strain on sb/sth. to cause problems for someone or to make a situation difficult: Children put tremendous strains on a marriage.
To overtax; injure by overexertion; wrench. To strain a muscle. Webster's New World. Similar definitions. To change the form or size of, by applying external force. Webster's New World. Similar definitions. To injure or weaken by force, pressure, etc. The wind strained the roof.
to draw tight or taut, especially to the utmost tension; stretch to the full: to strain a rope. to exert to the utmost: to strain one's ears to catch a sound. to impair, injure, or weaken (a muscle, tendon, etc.) by stretching or overexertion.
The noun strain is a stretch, effort, or exertion. You can strain your ankle, or your little brother can strain your patience.
[countable, uncountable] mental pressure or worry felt by somebody because they have too much to do or manage; something that causes this pressure. You will learn to cope with the stresses and strains of public life. I found it a strain having to concentrate for so long. Relax, and let us take the strain (= do things for you).
