transitive verb

1. to draw or stretch tight
2. to exert, use, or tax to the utmost to strain every nerve
3. to overtax; injure by overexertion; wrench to strain a muscle
4. to injure or weaken by force, pressure, etc. the wind strained the roof
5. to stretch or force beyond the normal, customary, or legitimate limits to strain a rule to one's own advantage
6. to change the form or size of, by applying external force
7. 1. to pass through a screen, sieve, filter, etc.; filter
   2. to remove or free by filtration, etc.
8. to hug or embrace: now only in strain to one's bosom (or heart, etc.)
9. Obsolete to force; constrain

Etymology: ME streinen < OFr estraindre, to strain, wring hard < L stringere, to draw tight: see strict

intransitive verb

1. to make violent or continual efforts; strive hard
2. to be or become strained
3. to be subjected to great stress or pressure
4. to pull or push with force
5. to filter, ooze, or trickle

6. Etymology: from a misunderstanding of “strain at a gnat” (Matt. 23:24)

   to hesitate or be unwilling; balk (at)

noun

1. a straining or being strained
2. great effort, exertion, or tension
3. an injury to a part of the body as a result of great effort or overexertion muscle strain
4. 1. change in form or size, or both, resulting from stress or force
   2. stress or force
5. a great or excessive demand on one's emotions, resources, etc. a strain on the imagination