To pull, draw, or stretch tight: strained the sheets over the bed.
To exert or tax to the utmost: straining our ears to hear.
To injure or impair by overuse or overexertion; wrench: strain a muscle.
To stretch or force beyond the proper or legitimate limit: strain a point.
Physics To alter (the relations between the parts of a structure or shape) by applying an external force; deform.
To pass (gravy, for example) through a filtering agent such as a strainer.
To draw off or remove by filtration: strained the pulp from the juice.
To embrace or clasp tightly; hug.
To make violent or steady efforts; strive hard: straining to reach the finish line.
To be or become wrenched or twisted.
To be subjected to great stress.
To pull forcibly or violently: The dog strained at its leash.
To stretch or exert one's muscles or nerves to the utmost.
To filter, trickle, or ooze.
To be extremely hesitant; balk: a mule that strained at the lead.
The act of straining.
The state of being strained.
Extreme or laborious effort, exertion, or work.
A great or excessive pressure, demand, or stress on one's body, mind, or resources: the strain of managing both a family and a career.
A wrench, twist, or other physical injury resulting from excessive tension, effort, or use.
Physics A deformation produced by stress.
An exceptional degree or pitch: a strain of zealous idealism.
The collective descendants of a common ancestor; a race, stock, line, or breed.
Any of the various lines of ancestry united in an individual or a family; ancestry or lineage.
Biology A group of organisms of the same species, having distinctive characteristics but not usually considered a separate breed or variety: a superior strain of wheat; a smooth strain of bacteria.