A Quick and Simple Dictionary

strain

1. Noun.  (obsolete) Treasure.
2. Noun.  (obsolete) The blood-vessel in the yolk of an egg.
3. Noun.  (archaic) Race; lineage, pedigree.
4. Noun.  Hereditary character, quality, or disposition.
5. Noun.  A tendency or disposition.
6. Noun.  (literary) 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.
7. Noun.  (biology) A particular breed or race of animal, microbe etc.
8. Noun.  (music) 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.
9. Noun.  (rare) A kind or sort (of person etc.).
10. Verb.  (obsolete) To hold tightly, to clasp.
11. Verb.  To apply a force or forces to by stretching out.
12. Verb.  To exert or struggle (to do something), especially to stretch (one's senses, faculties etc.) beyond what is normal or comfortable.
13. Verb.  To tighten (the strings of a musical instrument); to uplift (one’s voice).
14. Verb.  To separate solid from liquid by passing through a strainer or colander.
15. Noun.  The act of straining, or the state of being strained.
16. Noun.  A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles.
17. Noun.  An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain.
18. Noun.  (uncountable) (engineering) The amount by which a material deforms under stress or force, given as a ratio of the deformation to the initial dimension of the material and typically symbolised by ε is termed the engineering strain. The true strain is defined as the natural logarithm of the ratio of the final dimension to the initial dimension.
19. Noun.  (obsolete) The track of a deer.