strain every nerve

strain | American Dictionary

strain
noun
us/streɪn/

strainnoun (WORRY)

[ C/U ]
something that causes anxiety, worry, or difficulty:
[ U ]Loss of funding has put a lot of strain on the day-care center.
[ C ]The benefits of keeping our daughter at home make the strains of having only one income worthwhile.

strainnoun (PRESSURE)

[ U ]
physical pressure:
The bookcase collapsed under the strain.

strainnoun (INJURY)

[ C ]
an injury caused by working the muscles too hard:
Running puts a strain on your heart.

strainnoun (DIFFERENT TYPE)

[ C ]
an animal or plant that is only slightly different from other animals or plants of the same type:
A new strain of the virus has been found.
[ C ]
A strain is also a quality that gives something a particular character:
There has long been a populist strain in American politics.
[ C ]
A strain is also a particular sound:
Strains of piano music drifted across the room.
strain
verb
us/streɪn/

strainverb (SEPARATE)

[ I/T ]
to separate solid pieces from a liquid by pouring it through a utensil with small holes at the bottom of it or through a cloth:
[ T ]Strain the liquid and discard the vegetables.

strainverb (CAUSE WORRY)

[ T ]
to cause anxiety or problems:
This relationship has been strained almost to the breaking point.
These extra costs have strained our financial resources.

strainverb (CREATE PRESSURE)

[ I ]
to create pressure or use effort:
The dog strained at the leash, pulling his master along.
[ + to infinitive ]I had to strain to hear the audio.

strainverb (CAUSE INJURY)

[ T ]
to cause an injury by working the muscles too hard:
I strained my back carrying those boxes.

Examples of strain

strain
Thus, individuals experiencing low strain are hypothesized to have a lower than average risk of illness and psychological disturbance.
In between there is a critical thickness when the strain energy density is maximal.
These projects are targeted to increase environmental infrastructure to contend with the rapid industrialization and population growth that has strained the region for decades.
The geographic origin of the strains was not reflected by the dendrograms.
Post-infection, the differences between the two strains were still manifested.
In re-challenge experiments, each challenge was made with a different strain for each calf.
It can be demonstrated that this 45° angle for the strain gauges is adequate to measure torsion in circular sections.
Results have varied with the termite species and strain of fungus tested, and the concentration of inoculum and its mode of delivery to termite populations.
However, the present theory is restricted to steady axisymmetric pure straining flow (uniaxial extension).
There was no conserved drug resistance profile among the epidemic strains.
The discovery of the variability of vaccine strains and the ageing of vaccines changed the economy of vaccines and of their standards.
Such a functional relationship, if not linear, is singular at the origin in strain-rate space.
This could lead to competitive elimination of the autumn strain.
The elastic girder deforms differently when a different diameter tube is measured, thus resulting in a different output of the strain gauge transducer.
This simple-minded approach produces equations that are amenable to further analysis while allowing for elastic nonlinearity and large strains.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations withstrain

strain

These are words often used in combination with strain.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

added strain
I am also troubled by extension of the probationary period on marriages to two years, which will place added strain on couples.
From the
Hansard archive