strain
/stɹeɪn/ verb B2- 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.
- 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.
He/she/it strains · Past strained · Past participle strained · -ing form straining
Verb forms
- Base form
- strain
- He/she/it
- strains
- Past
- strained
- Past participle
- strained
- -ing form
- straining
From the library
Spencer, bustling her guests through the hall into the parlor, where a deadly chill struck on them as if the air had been strained so long through dark green, closely drawn blinds that it had lost every particle of warmth it had ever possessed.
“Do you know, Villefort, that you are talking in a most dreadfully revolutionary strain?
It had also been noted and commented upon by a few observant people that there were signs sometimes of some nerve-strain upon the part of Mrs.
We all sat in silence for some minutes while those fateful eyes still strained to pierce the veil.
Other matches
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