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Strain

[n] the act of singing; "with a shout and a song they marched up to the gates"
[n] an intense or violent exertion
[n] an effortful attempt to attain a goal
[n] a lineage or race of people
[n] pervading note of an utterance; "I could follow the general tenor of his argument"
[n] a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; "she was humming an air from Beethoven"
[n] a special kind of domesticated animals within a species; "he experimented on a particular breed of white rats"; "he created a new variety of sheep"
[n] (biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups; "a new strain of microorganisms"
[n] (physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
[n] injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain
[n] (psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress; "his responsibilities were a constant strain"; "the mental strain of staying alert hour after hour was too much for him"
[n] difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension; "she endured the stresses and strains of life"; "he presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger"- R.J.Samuelson
[v] make tense
[v] to exert much effort or energy; "straining our ears to hear."
[v] alter the shape of (something) by stress; "His body was deformed by leprosy"
[v] use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity; "He really extended himself when he climbed Kilimanjaro"; "Don't strain your mind too much"
[v] rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender; "puree the vegetables for the baby"
[v] remove by passing through a filter; "filter out the impurities"
[v] separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements; "sift the flour"
[v] stretch or force to the limit; "strain the rope"
[v] test the limits of; "You are trying my patience!"