Strain

How to spell strain

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce strain

What does strain mean?

1. nounA force of pressure, tension or demand placed on something or someone.
2. verbTo injure a muscle or limb by stretching or overusing it, or to make a great effort.
3. verbTo pour a liquid through a sieve or mesh to separate out solids.
4. nounA particular variety, breed or genetic line of an organism such as a plant, animal or microbe.

Strain in a sentence

• noun

  The long commute put a real strain on her marriage.

• verb

  Lifting the heavy boxes alone could strain your back.

• verb

  Strain the pasta over the sink before adding the sauce.

• noun

  The lab identified a new strain of the flu virus this winter.

• noun

  The bridge cables were tested for the maximum strain they could bear.

• verb

  He had to strain his eyes to read the tiny print on the contract.

Where does strain come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Most uses of strain trace back to the Latin verb stringere, which meant 'to draw tight' or 'to bind firmly', and English took it through the Old French estreindre during the 1300s. From the idea of pulling something taut came the senses of physical tension, of forcing a liquid through a fine mesh, and of injuring a muscle by overstretching it. The same Latin root sits inside the relatives strict, stringent and constrain, all of which carry that notion of tightening or pulling. Curiously, the meaning of strain as a breed or hereditary line has a completely separate origin: it comes from the Old English strēon, meaning 'gain, stock or lineage', a native Germanic word that happened to fall together in spelling with the borrowed one. Because two histories merged into a single modern spelling, strain quietly covers everything from a pulled hamstring to a particular line of bacteria.

How the word is built

• strain (from Latin stringere: to draw tight); the 'breed/variety' sense instead descends from Old English strēon: stock, lineage