1. (n.) Race; stock; generation; descent; family.

2. (n.) Hereditary character, quality, or disposition.

3. (n.) Rank; a sort.

4. (v.) 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.

5. (v.) To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it.

6. (v.) To exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously.

7. (v.) 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.

8. (v.) To injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship.

9. (v.) 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.

10. (v.) To squeeze; to press closely.

11. (v.) To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain.

12. (v.) To urge with importunity; to press; as, to strain a petition or invitation.

13. (v.) 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.

14. (v. i.) To make violent efforts.

15. (v. i.) To percolate; to be filtered; as, water straining through a sandy soil.

16. (n.) The act of straining, or the state of being strained.

17. (n.) 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.

18. (n.) A change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass, produced by a stress.

19. (n.) 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.

20. (n.) 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.

21. (n.) Turn; tendency; inborn disposition. Cf. 1st Strain.

Spenserian stanza abrade affectation affiliation agitation aim air all-overs anacrusis ancestry angst animal kingdom animus antistrophe anxiety anxiety hysteria anxiety neurosis anxious bench anxious concern anxious seat anxiousness apparentation apprehension apprehensiveness aptitude aria back down balance balk bark bass passage be determined belie bent bias bid for birth bleed blemish blench bloat bloating blood bloodline bloody boggle bolt book bourdon bracket brain fag branch brand break breaking point breed bridge brood burden burn cadence camouflage cankerworm of care canto cantus care cast caste category chafe character check chill chilliness chip chorus clan clarify class claw clear coda coldness color command of language common ancestry community complexion concern concernment consanguinity constitution contend for continue coolness couplet crack crane craze culture cut damage debate debilitation debility decrassify deliberate demand deme demur denomination depurate derivation descant descendants descent description designation determination development diathesis direct line disaffinity discharge disguise disposition disquiet disquietude distaff side distension distich distill distort distress disturbance division draft drag drag out drain draw draw off draw out dread dress up drift drive eccentricity edulcorate effort effuse elongate elongation elute embellish embroider emit endeavor enervation enfeeblement enmity envoi epode essentialize estate ethnic group evidence exaggeration exceed excrete exertion exfiltrate exposition expression of ideas extend extension extract extraction extravasate extreme tension exudate exude eyestrain faintness falsify falter family fashion fatigue fear feather feeling for words female line fight shy of figure filiation filter filtrate flinch folderol folk force foreboding forebodingness form form of speech fracture fray frazzle fret frost fudge gag gall garble gash genre gens genus gild give off gloss gloss over goneness grace of expression grade grain grandiloquence group grouping hang back hang off harass harm harmonic close haul have qualms head heading heart strain heave hem and haw heptastich heritage hesitate hexastich hint hold off house hover hum and haw humor hurt iciness