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STRAINED
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Struggling for effect
Example:
agonistic poses
Synonyms:
agonistic; strained
Classified under:
Similar:
affected; unnatural (speaking or behaving in an artificial way to make an impression)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Lacking spontaneity; not natural
Example:
a strained smile
Synonyms:
constrained; forced; strained
Classified under:
Similar:
affected; unnatural (speaking or behaving in an artificial way to make an impression)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Lacking natural ease
Example:
a labored style of debating
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
awkward (lacking grace or skill in manner or movement or performance)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Showing signs of mental and emotional tension
Example:
her voice was strained as she asked the question
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
tense (in or of a state of physical or nervous tension)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Past simple / past participle of the verb strain
Context examples:
One Ear strained the full length of the stick toward the intruder and whined with eagerness.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
My eyes strained eagerly across the great plain in the hope of seeing afar off the help for which we had prayed.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I strained my sight to discover what it could be and uttered a wild cry of ecstasy when I distinguished a sledge and the distorted proportions of a well-known form within.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) Behavior at interview; fidgeting, restlessness or pacing, tremor of hands, furrowed brow, strained face, sighing or rapid respiration, facial pallor, swallowing, etc.
(HAMA - Behavior at Interview, NCI Thesaurus)
“I strained a sinew on the day that I slew the three men at Castelnau.”
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Artemisia vulgaris top oil has antiseptic properties and is used in treatments for arthritis, rheumatism, and strained muscles.
(Artemisia Vulgaris Top Oil, NCI Thesaurus)
And then, as half the crowd strained to the left and half to the right to avoid the pressure from behind, the vast mass was suddenly reft in twain, and through the gap surged the rough fellows from behind, all armed with loaded sticks and yelling for Fair play and Gloucester!
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Half an hour from now, when I shall again and forever reindue that hated personality, I know how I shall sit shuddering and weeping in my chair, or continue, with the most strained and fearstruck ecstasy of listening, to pace up and down this room (my last earthly refuge) and give ear to every sound of menace.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
By that her eye was instantly caught and long retained; and the perusal of the highly strained epitaph, in which every virtue was ascribed to her by the inconsolable husband, who must have been in some way or other her destroyer, affected her even to tears.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
These agents work independently, and their relations with the Embassies are often strained.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
