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strain

From Wiktionary

Pronunciation

[change]

Noun

[change]

Singular
strain

Plural
strains

  1. A tune, melody or song.
    Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
    And sings a melancholy strain.
    – William Wordsworth
  2. In biology, a particular species or type of animal or microbe.
  3. Extreme effort to do some work.
  4. (biology) Family or lineage.

Verb

[change]

Plain form
strain

Third-person singular
strains

Past tense
strained

Past participle
strained

Present participle
straining

  1. You strain when it is difficult to do something and you must work hard to do it.
    He strained to see his friend from so far away.
  2. To force something or apply a force.
  3. To remove one part of a mixture from another by filtering it.