Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Strain \Strain\, n. (Hort.)
   A cultural subvariety that is only slightly differentiated.

Strain \Strain\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Strained}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Straining}.] [OF. estraindre, estreindre, F. ['e]treindre,
   L. stringere to draw or bind tight; probably akin to Gr. ? a
   halter, ? 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.

   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.

   3. To exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously.

            He sweats, Strains his young nerves.  --Shak.

            They strain their warbling throats To welcome in the
            spring.                               --Dryden.

   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.

            There can be no other meaning in this expression,
            however some may pretend to strain it. --Swift.

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

   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.

            Prudes decayed about may track, Strain their necks
            with looking back.                    --Swift.

   7. To squeeze; to press closely.

            Evander with a close embrace Strained his departing
            friend.                               --Dryden.

   8. To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent
      effort; to force; to constrain.

            He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirth Is
            forced and strained.                  --Denham.

            The quality of mercy is not strained. --Shak.

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

            Note, if your lady strain his entertainment. --Shak.

   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.

   {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.

Strain \Strain\, n. [See {Strene}.]
   1. Race; stock; generation; descent; family.

            He is of a noble strain.              --Shak.

            With animals and plants a cross between different
            varieties, or between individuals of the same
            variety but of another strain, gives vigor and
            fertility to the offspring.           --Darwin.

   2. Hereditary character, quality, or disposition.

            Intemperance and lust breed diseases, which,
            propogated, spoil the strain of nation. --Tillotson.

   3. Rank; a sort. ``The common strain.'' --Dryden.

Strain \Strain\ (str[=a]n), v. i.
   1. To make violent efforts. ``Straining with too weak a
      wing.'' --Pope.

            To build his fortune I will strain a little. --Shak.

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

Strain \Strain\, n.
   1. The act of straining, or the state of being strained.
      Specifically:
      (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.

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

                Credit is gained by custom, and seldom recovers
                a strain.                         --Sir W.
                                                  Temple.
      (b) (Mech. Physics) A change of form or dimensions of a
          solid or liquid mass, produced by a stress. --Rankine.

   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.

            Their heavenly harps a lower strain began. --Dryden.

   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.

            Such take too high a strain at first. --Bacon.

            The genius and strain of the book of Proverbs.
                                                  --Tillotson.

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

   4. Turn; tendency; inborn disposition. Cf. 1st {Strain}.

            Because heretics have a strain of madness, he
            applied her with some corporal chastisements.
                                                  --Hayward.

Source : WordNet®

strain
     n 1: (physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of
          applied forces
     2: difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension; "she
        endured the stresses and strains of life"; "he presided
        over the economy during the period of the greatest stress
        and danger"- R.J.Samuelson [syn: {stress}]
     3: a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; "she
        was humming an air from Beethoven" [syn: {tune}, {melody},
         {air}, {melodic line}, {line}, {melodic phrase}]
     4: (psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress; "his
        responsibilities were a constant strain"; "the mental
        strain of staying alert hour after hour was too much for
        him" [syn: {mental strain}, {nervous strain}]
     5: a special variety of domesticated animals within a species;
        "he experimented on a particular breed of white rats"; "he
        created a new strain of sheep" [syn: {breed}, {stock}]
     6: (biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ
        in trivial ways from similar groups; "a new strain of
        microorganisms" [syn: {form}, {variant}, {var.}]
     7: a lineage or race of people [syn: {breed}]
     8: injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in
        swelling and pain
     9: pervading note of an utterance; "I could follow the general
        tenor of his argument" [syn: {tenor}]
     10: an effortful attempt to attain a goal [syn: {striving}, {nisus},
          {pains}]
     11: an intense or violent exertion [syn: {straining}]
     12: the act of singing; "with a shout and a song they marched up
         to the gates" [syn: {song}]
     v 1: to exert much effort or energy; "straining our ears to hear"
          [syn: {strive}, {reach}]
     2: test the limits of; "You are trying my patience!" [syn: {try},
         {stress}]
     3: use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity; "He
        really extended himself when he climbed Kilimanjaro";
        "Don't strain your mind too much" [syn: {extend}]
     4: separate by passing through a sieve or other straining
        device to separate out coarser elements; "sift the flour"
        [syn: {sift}, {sieve}]
     5: make tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious; [syn: {tense},
        {tense up}] [ant: {relax}, {relax}]
     6: stretch or force to the limit; "strain the rope" [syn: {tense}]
     7: remove by passing through a filter; "filter out the
        impurities" [syn: {filter}, {filtrate}, {separate out}, {filter
        out}]
     8: rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender;
        "puree the vegetables for the baby" [syn: {puree}]
     9: alter the shape of (something) by stress; "His body was
        deformed by leprosy" [syn: {deform}, {distort}]