Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In saddlery, leather, canvas, or other fabric drawn over a saddle to form a base for the seating.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • a. & n. from strain.
  • (Arch.) a short piece of timber in a truss, used to maintain the ends of struts or rafters, and keep them from slipping. See Illust. of Queen-post.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of strain.
  • noun The act by which one strains.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective taxing to the utmost; testing powers of endurance
  • noun an intense or violent exertion
  • noun the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean

Etymologies

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Examples

  • But then I could actually feel my unconscious brain straining to generate fractal landscapes as I flew, and start to realize that it was just a dream.

    Writer's Block: Dream On darkerblogistan 2009

  • They were guilty of not advertising that anything untoward was afoot, although they did steal glances up to their captain straining through the binoculars.

    THE KANAKA SURF 2010

  • Just how popular the act was is difficult to ascertain – one can hardly imagine theater patrons straining from the far rows of a venue to make sense of the various parakeets hopping around on a stage.

    Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2008

  • Protestantism involves a certain straining for an idealized first century Church, as if that was real Christianity and all sects today are merely pale reflections trying and failing to duplicate the first century Church by studying the New Testament and reenacting what they read.

    How I Became a Sci Fi Catholic, Part 2 2007

  • Most of the recruits clutch duffel bags to their chests, straining from the effort.

    The Army We Have 2007

  • Most of the recruits clutch duffel bags to their chests, straining from the effort.

    The Army We Have 2007

  • You will agree with me that, without straining the text, the English word STRA and the

    In Search of the Castaways 2003

  • They were guilty of not advertising that anything untoward was afoot, although they did steal glances up to their captain straining through the binoculars.

    The Kanaka Surf 1919

  • You will agree with me that, without straining the text, the English word stra and the French one Austral may relate to Australia.

    In Search of the Castaways 1873

  • If you call straining a man's throat until he's hoarse, hailing, I believe I did.

    Jack Tier; Or, the Florida Reef 1848

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