Strain

He is of a noble strain.

[…] with animals and plants a cross between different varieties, or between individuals of the same variety but of another strain, gives vigour and fertility to the offspring; […]

They say this year's flu virus is a particularly virulent strain.

European scientists have discovered a new strain of the virus that causes AIDS and linked it to gorillas, creating a mystery about when and how the first patient found to have the strain became infected.

There is a strain of madness in her family.

Intemperance and Luſt breed infirmities and diſeaſes, which, being propagated, ſpoil the Strain of a Nation.

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.

A baby gurgled, a photographer dropped her lens cap, and the strains of the U.S. Army Brass Quintet echoed off the murals depicting seminal moments in American history.

the common strain

So hauing said, her twixt her armes twaine / She straightly straynd, and colled tenderly […]

Evander with a close embrace / Strained his departing friend.

"Farewell!"—the mother strained her child to her heart again, and again put her from her, to embrace her more closely.

to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship

Relations between the United States and Guatemala traditionally have been close, although at times strained by human rights and civil/military issues.

The gale strained the timbers of the ship.

Sitting in back, I strained to hear the speaker.

To build his fortune I will strain a little.

He sweats, / Strains his young nerves.

They strain their warbling throats / To welcome in the spring.

Thus my plight was evil indeed, for I had nothing now to burn to give me light, and knew that 'twas no use setting to grout till I could see to go about it. Moreover, the darkness was of that black kind that is never found beneath the open sky, no, not even on the darkest night, but lurks in close and covered places and strains the eyes in trying to see into it.

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.

Strain the noodles and rinse with fresh water until it runs clear. The noodles should be soft, but not mushy.

water straining through a sandy soil

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; […]

The quality of mercy is not strained.

to strain a petition or invitation

Note, if your lady strain his entertainment.

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.

If the Menai Bridge, for instance, were loaded at that rate, the entire strain on the main chains would be about 2000 tons ; while the chains containing 260 square inches of iron would bear, at 9 tons per square inch, 2340 tons, without stretching ...

Therefore, the goal of this study is to assess the influence of strain on the corrosion resistance of passivated Nitinol and stainless steel implant materials. Materials and Methods Nitinol (50.8%at. Ni) wire (NDC, Fremont, CA) and 316L stainless ...

he jumped up with a strain

the strain upon the sailboat's rigging

They used steroids to build strength but, more importantly, to recover from strains, pulls, dislocations.

Dirk Kuyt sandwiched a goal in between Carroll's double as City endured a night of total misery, with captain Carlos Tevez limping off early on with a hamstring strain that puts a serious question mark over his participation in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Wembley.

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.

When they have shot a Deere by land, they follow him like bloud-hounds by the bloud, and straine, and oftentimes so take them.

A man straineth, liveth, then dieth.

Man, look at that cat straining that kitty.

Sir, as I have a soul, ſhe is an Angell; / Our King has all the Indies in his Armes, / And more, and richer, when he ſtraines that Lady, / I cannot blame his Conſcience.