What does "strain" mean?
Race; lineage, pedigree.
Strain
/stɹeɪn/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Race; lineage, pedigree.
- Grammar: strain is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: stress, variant, a lot of stress, abrade.
- Useful contrasts: chilled, unsheared, no tension.
- Usage evidence: The strain has begun to tell on his health.
How to use "strain"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "strain" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "strain" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "strain" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "strain" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "strain" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "stress" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "strain", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Race; lineage, pedigree. archaic
"He is of a noble strain."
- 2 The act of straining, or the state of being strained. countable, uncountable
"Nevertheless, it is clear that the global energy demand for air-conditioning will grow substantially as nations become more affluent,[…]. This trend will put additional strain not only on global energy resources but also on the environmental prospects of a warming planet."
- 3 the act of singing wordnet
- 4 A particular variety of a microbe, virus, or other organism, usually a taxonomically infraspecific one.
"They say this year's flu virus is a particularly virulent strain."
- 5 A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles. countable, uncountable
"he jumped up with a strain"
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 an intense or violent exertion wordnet
- 7 Hereditary character, quality, tendency, or disposition. figuratively
"There is a strain of madness in her family."
- 8 An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain. countable, uncountable
"They used steroids to build strength but, more importantly, to recover from strains, pulls, dislocations."
- 9 an effortful attempt to attain a goal wordnet
- 10 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, etc.
"Yet Keats, though for so many years he has given nothing to the world, is understood to have devoted himself to the composition of an epic poem. Some passages of it have been communicated to the inner circle of his admirers, and impressed them as the loftiest strains that have been audible on earth since Milton’s days."
- 11 A dimensionless measure of object deformation either referring to engineering strain or true strain. uncountable
"Detailed records are kept of the strains imposed on the bridge by the violent gales that frequently sweep the firth, and a self-recording wind gauge is fixed on the top of the tower."
- 12 the general meaning or substance of an utterance wordnet
- 13 Language that is eloquent, poetic, or otherwise heightened.
- 14 The track of a deer. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"When they have shot a Deere by land, they follow him like bloud-hounds by the bloud, and straine, and oftentimes so take them."
- 15 a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence wordnet
- 16 A kind or sort (of person etc.). rare
"the common strain"
- 17 a special variety of domesticated animals within a species wordnet
- 18 Treasure. obsolete
- 19 (biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups wordnet
- 20 The blood-vessel in the yolk of an egg. obsolete
- 21 (physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces wordnet
- 22 injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain wordnet
- 23 (psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress wordnet
- 24 difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension wordnet
Verb
- 1 To hold tightly, to clasp. obsolete, transitive
"So hauing said, her twixt her armes twaine / She straightly straynd, and colled tenderly […]"
- 2 To beget, generate (of light), engender, copulate (both of animals and humans), lie with, be born, come into the world. obsolete
"A man straineth, liveth, then dieth."
- 3 cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious wordnet
- 4 To apply a force or forces to by stretching out. transitive
"to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship"
- 5 alter the shape of (something) by stress wordnet
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 To damage by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force. transitive
"The gale strained the timbers of the ship."
- 7 to exert much effort or energy wordnet
- 8 To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as when bending a beam. transitive
- 9 use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity wordnet
- 10 To exert or struggle (to do something), especially to stretch (one's senses, faculties etc.) beyond what is normal or comfortable. ambitransitive
"Sitting in back, I strained to hear the speaker."
- 11 rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender wordnet
- 12 To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in terms of intent or meaning. transitive
"to strain the law in order to convict an accused person"
- 13 remove by passing through a filter wordnet
- 14 To separate solid from liquid by passing through a strainer or colander. transitive
"Strain the noodles and rinse with fresh water until it runs clear. The noodles should be soft, but not mushy."
- 15 separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements wordnet
- 16 To percolate; to be filtered. intransitive
"water straining through a sandy soil"
- 17 become stretched or tense or taut wordnet
- 18 To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain. transitive
"Prince. How does my Father? / Princeſs. Still talks and plays with Fatyma, but his mirth / Is forc'd and ſtrain'd: In his look appears / A wild diſtracted fierceneſs; […]"
- 19 test the limits of wordnet
- 20 To urge with importunity; to press. transitive
"to strain a petition or invitation"
- 21 To hug somebody; to hold somebody tightly. transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The strain has begun to tell on his health."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "strain"?
Common synonyms include: stress, variant, a lot of stress, abrade, affectation, affiliation.
How do you use "strain" in a sentence?
The strain has begun to tell on his health.
How do you pronounce "strain"?
Pronounced /stɹeɪn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English streen, strene, streon, istreon (“race, stock, generation”), from Old English strēon, ġestrēon (“gain, wealth”), from Proto-Germanic *streuną (“heap, treasure, profit, gain”), from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to spread, strew”) (cognate with Old Saxon gistriuni, Old High German gistriuni (“gain, property, wealth, business”), Latin strues (“heap”)). Confused in Middle English with the related noun strend, strynd, strund, from Old English strȳnd (“race; stock”), from strēonan, strȳnan (“to beget; acquire”). Related also to Dutch struinen (“to prowl, root about, rout”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English straynen, streinen, streynen, from Old French estreindre (whence French étreindre (“to grip”)), from Latin stringō (“to draw tight together, to tie”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English strenen (“to beget, father, procreate”), from Old English strēonan, strīenan, strȳnan (“to beget, generate, gain, acquire”), from Proto-Germanic *striunijaną (“to furnish, decorate, acquire”).