strainingn.
/ˈstreɪnɪŋ/ 1. The action of stretching, extending, drawing tight, wrenching, etc.; the fact of being stretched, wrenched, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > pushing and pulling > [noun] > pulling > pulling tight
strainingc1400
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > [noun] > making long or longer > drawing out to greater length > forcibly or tightly
strainingc1400
extension1526
intention1580
stretch1600
intension1603
distensiona1640
distractionc1720
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 199 A Mannes lyme bicomeþ smal wiþ greet streynyng of ligaturis þat takiþ awei þe norisching of þe lyme.
1463–4 Rolls of Parl. V. 501/1 Brode Cloth..after almanere rakkyng, streynyng or teyntyng therof.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 83 The ach that commeth by the wrinchyng or strenyng [printed streuyng] of any ioynte.
a1647 P. Pett Life in Archaeologia (1796) 12 263 The ship went away without any straining of screws or tackles.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. iv. 157 The water the Pink had made by her working and straining in bad weather.
1805 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel iv. xvii. 108 So near they were, that they might know The straining harsh of each cross-bow.
1860 W. Collins Woman in White (new ed.) I. 65 The drawings..require careful straining and mounting.
1865 A. C. Swinburne Lament. in Poems & Ballads 69 With straining of oars.
2.
a. Excessive exertion of the voice, lungs, eyes, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > extreme or excessive
stressing1540
overreach1556
stress1570
straining1585
wrest1593
overstraining1623
strain1693
overstrain1694
overexertion1795
overtaxation1881
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 347/2 Bombyces,..long pipes which are very hardly filled with breath, and not without great straining of the breath.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) i. vii. 10 My brest Ile burst with straining of my courage. View more context for this quotation
1639 N. N. tr. J. Du Bosc Compl. Woman i. 28 The strayning of their countenance discovers, they have not modestie enough for silence, no more then sufficiency for discourse.
1680 T. Otway Hist. Caius Marius iv. 38 It is the Lark, and out of tune she sings, With grating Discords and unpleasing Strainings.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 407. ¶1 Those Strainings of the Voice, Motions of the Body, and Majesty of the Hand, which are so much celebrated in the Orators of Greece and Rome.
1832 S. Warren Passages from Diary of Late Physician II. iii. 122 There was..no knitting of the brows, or painful straining of the eyes.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda I. ii. xv. 292 An uncommonly fine girl... Really worth a little straining to look at her.
b. A violent muscular effort to evacuate the bowels, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [noun] > retching
bolking1398
yoking1527
heavea1571
strain1590
reaching1601
straining1613
kecking1709
reach1736
retch1768
retching1771
vomiturition1842
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > excretory disorders > [noun] > inclination to void excreta > violent effort
straining1613
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 721 In the ascent he and all the rest were surprised with so sudden panges of straining and casting, and some also of scouring, that the Sea-sicknesse is not comparable hereunto.
1677 R. Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra ii. ix. 403 That Vomit..cannot be done without Sickness, straining and torture.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 241 The percentage of total solids in the fluid passed during straining, was less than half that passed when the patient remained passive.
c. The making a violent effort or strong endeavour (to do something, after an end or object).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > [noun] > striving or struggling
wrestlingc890
wragging?c1225
wraggling?c1225
strugglingc1386
straining1580
contention1583
strift1612
strifea1616
striving?1615
stickle1652
agonism1688
strain1693
struggle1833
floundering1868
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 103v The Nightingale, which is sayd, with continuall straining to sing, to perish in hir sweete layes.
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xiii. sig. Ff4v The Shore being fixt, and immoveable, instead of making that come to him, his very strainings drew him and his Boat to that.
1800 Coleridge in J. D. Campbell Life (1894) 107 I find that I can without any straining gain 500 guineas a year.
1890 Spectator 1 Nov. Grand projects of street-improvement, many of which are mere strainings after a needless grandeur.
1898 M. Hewlett Earthwork out of Tuscany (1899) Pref. p. xii The straining of Botticelli to express the ineffable.
3. An urging or pressing too far, laying undue stress upon; wresting or distortion of meaning, forced construction or interpretion.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > [noun]
wrestingc1444
pervertinga1450
corruptiona1513
straining1528
writhing?1532
hacking1539
violence1546
racking1556
wrying1562
wringing1565
detorting1579
wrest1581
detortion1598
wrench1603
torture1605
distorting1610
violencing1612
refraction1614
misacception1629
distortion1650
distorture1709
misacceptation1721
torturing1753
verbicide1826
stretch1849
twisting1890
queeringness1955
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > misapplication > stretching beyond proper limits
straining1528
overstretching1589
overstretch1749
1528 T. More Dialogue Heresyes in Wks. 107/2 I haue in these matters bidden him be bolde, without any strayning of curtesie.
1654 Bp. J. Taylor Real Presence 116 By some straining, the Lamb slain might signifie the slaying the Egyptians.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xv. 527 The words of the Act..may, without any straining, be construed as the Court construed them.
1908 Athenæum 31 Oct. 535/2 They were forced into resisting such strainings of the prerogative as the Declaration of Indulgence.
4.
a. Filtering, sifting, expressing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > straining > [noun]
syingc1440
straining1548
colation1617
colature1657
elutriation1661
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Expressio, a streynyng.
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. Cc/ij v The streyning of a gnat is not swallowing of a cammell.
1640 Bp. J. Hall Christian Moderation i. 141 The presse is prepared for the grapes and Olives, and..neither of them will yeeld their comfortable and wholsome juyce without an hard strayning.
1718 J. Quincy Pharmacopœia Officinalis ii. Introd. 66 Gums, and inspissated Juices..are seldom fit for use before straining.
1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 691/2 Probably a straining of water from solid particles is effected by the lattice-work of the ctenidia or gill-plates.
b. concrete. Something strained or extracted by straining; usually a strained liquor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > [noun] > pressing to extract something > that which is extracted
straining1566
strainc1616
squeezing1681
1566 T. Blundeville Order curing Horses Dis. f. 46v, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Cast not away the sodden Barly with the rest of the straynings.
1669 W. Rowland tr. J. Schroeder Compl. Chymical Dispensatory i. iii. 6 Succus, in Shops are Expressions or Strainings, such as will mix with Water.
1887 A. M. Brown Treat. Animal Alkaloids ii. ii. 82 The residue is filtered by pressure, and the united strainings are subjected to boiling or evaporation.
5. Saddlery. (See quot. 1875.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle > parts of saddle
saddle-boweOE
arsonc1300
saddle skirt1361
saddle-tree1364
skirtc1400
saddle panel1465
stock-tree1470
stock1497
pommela1500
tree1535
pillion cloth1540
port1548
saddle stock1548
pilch1552
bolster1591
cantle1591
shank-pilliona1599
pillowc1600
pad1604
crutch1607
sivet1607
saddle crutcha1614
saddle eaves1663
saddle tore1681
burr1688
head1688
narve1688
saddle seat1688
sidebar1688
torea1694
quarter1735
bands of a saddle1753
witherband1764
withers1764
peak1775
pillion-stick1784
boot-housing1792
saddle flap1798
saddle lap1803
fork1833
flap1849
horn1849
skirting1852
hunting-horn1854
head-plate1855
saddle horn1856
cantle bar1859
leaping-horn1859
straining1871
stirrup-bar1875
straining-leather1875
spring tree1877
leaping-head1881
officer-tree1894
monkey1911
monkey-strap1915
thigh roll1963
straining-web-
1871 Saddlers' Gaz. 1 May 12/1 The webs used for the manufacture of a saddle are termed straining web, cross straining and diaper web.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Straining, a piece of canvas or leather, which, being drawn tightly over the tree, forms the foundation for the seat of the saddle... It is called the straining, because the stretch is taken out of it by repeated wettings and stretchings.
Compounds
C1. (In sense 1.)
straining-arch n. an arch designed to resist end-thrust.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [noun] > other types of arch
bowOE
craba1387
cove1511
triumphal arch (arc)a1566
straight arch1663
pointed arch1688
rough arch1693
jack-arch1700
oxi1700
raking arch1711
flat arch1715
scheme-arch1725
counter-arch1726
ox-eye arch1736
surbased dome1763
ogee1800
rising arch1809
sub-arch1811
deaf arch1815
four-centred arch1815
mixed arch1815
Tudor arch1815
camber1823
lancet arch1823
invert1827
platband1828
pier arch1835
ogive1841
scoinson arch1842
segment1845
skew arch1845
drop-arch1848
equilateral arch1848
lancet1848
rear arch1848
straining-arch1848
tierceron1851
shouldered arch1853
archlet1862
segment-arch1887
1848 J. H. Parker Rickman's Styles Archit. Eng. (ed. 5) Descr. Engrav. p. xli The angel corbel carries another arch, known as a straining arch.
straining-beam n. (see quot. 1825).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > roof-beam > other roof supports
soulace1374
forkc1420
sispar1532
bougars1568
straining-beama1805
straining-piecea1805
straining-silla1805
hip truss1850
roost1880
shoulder-wedge1887
main tie1915
a1805 J. Robison Syst. Mech. Philos. (1822) I. 545 The straining beam and the trussbeam above it.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 572 Straining-beam; a piece of timber placed between two others, called queen-posts, at their upper ends, in order to withstand the thrust of the principal rafters.
straining-frame n. a frame on which paper, canvas, etc. is stretched.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > straining frame
straining-frame1763
1763 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting III. i. 45 On the straining frame was writ Gerard Soest pinxit.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 747 The paper designed for a transparency must be fixed on a straining frame, such as that of a drawing board without its pannel.
straining-leather n. (see quot. 1875 and sense 5).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle > parts of saddle
saddle-boweOE
arsonc1300
saddle skirt1361
saddle-tree1364
skirtc1400
saddle panel1465
stock-tree1470
stock1497
pommela1500
tree1535
pillion cloth1540
port1548
saddle stock1548
pilch1552
bolster1591
cantle1591
shank-pilliona1599
pillowc1600
pad1604
crutch1607
sivet1607
saddle crutcha1614
saddle eaves1663
saddle tore1681
burr1688
head1688
narve1688
saddle seat1688
sidebar1688
torea1694
quarter1735
bands of a saddle1753
witherband1764
withers1764
peak1775
pillion-stick1784
boot-housing1792
saddle flap1798
saddle lap1803
fork1833
flap1849
horn1849
skirting1852
hunting-horn1854
head-plate1855
saddle horn1856
cantle bar1859
leaping-horn1859
straining1871
stirrup-bar1875
straining-leather1875
spring tree1877
leaping-head1881
officer-tree1894
monkey1911
monkey-strap1915
thigh roll1963
straining-web-
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Straining-leather, a kind of web forming the seat of a hussar-saddle.
straining-piece n. = straining-beam n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > roof-beam > other roof supports
soulace1374
forkc1420
sispar1532
bougars1568
straining-beama1805
straining-piecea1805
straining-silla1805
hip truss1850
roost1880
shoulder-wedge1887
main tie1915
a1805 J. Robison Syst. Mech. Philos. (1822) I. 669 The great use of the straining piece is to give a firm abutment to the inner struts, without allowing any lateral strain on the stretcher.
1842 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 5 361/2 Long straining-pieces reaching from one post to another.
straining-pillar n. = straining-post n.
ΚΠ
1883 J. Scott Farm Roads 85 Straining-pillars and posts fitted with..winding brackets.
straining-post n. a post from which wire fencing is stretched tight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hedge or fence > a fence > wire fence > post
draw post1822
straining-post1882
strainer post1921
strainer1933
1882 Worcs. Exhib. Catal. iii. 20 Strained wire fencing..with two kinds of straining posts.
straining-sill n. (also straining-cill) (see quot. 1825).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > roof-beam > other roof supports
soulace1374
forkc1420
sispar1532
bougars1568
straining-beama1805
straining-piecea1805
straining-silla1805
hip truss1850
roost1880
shoulder-wedge1887
main tie1915
a1805 J. Robison Syst. Mech. Philos. (1822) I. 547 The straining sill Q gives a firm abutment to the principal braces.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 572 Straining-cill; a piece of timber placed upon the tie-beam at the bottom of two queen-posts, in order to withstand the force of the braces.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
straining-web n. (see 5).
C2. (In sense 4.)
straining-bag n.
ΚΠ
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Sugar ⁋1 Passing it thro a Straining-Bag.
straining-cloth n.
ΚΠ
1743 W. Ellis Suppl. to London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) 311 A Bag made of Straining-cloth, such as Dairy Women use to pass their Milk through.
1915 J. London Let. 26 Jan. (1966) 445 Note his..pasteurization of utensils and of straining-cloths over the milk-pails.
straining-spoon n.
ΚΠ
1912 C. Mackenzie Carnival xxxvi. 342 Here were also brass ladles and straining spoons and a pair of bellows.
1960 H. Hayward Connoisseur's Handbk. Antique Collecting 269/2 Straining spoon, spoon with pierced bowl, found either in large sizes for gravy or similar use or in teaspoon size with thin, tapering stem and pricket top, used for skimming leaves from teacups.
straining-tower n.
ΚΠ
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 Oct. 5/2 There will be a straining tower at Vyrniew [i.e. Vyrnwy], a profusion of filter-beds at Oswestry.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
strainingadj.
a. That strains, in various senses of the verb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [adjective] > full of or subject to extreme or excessive > involving subjecting to
straining1530
overstraining1671
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > [adjective] > increasing in length > drawing out forcibly or tightly
straining1530
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 326/1 Straynyng, constraintif.
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. xxvii. sig. U.viiv Ye crewel stretching and straining payne, farre passing any crampe.
1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus Famous Hyst. i. f. 26v Fetching from the bottom of his hart a deepe and streyning sigh.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. ix. 335 The straining cordage bursts, the mast is riv'n.
1838 W. C. Harris Narr. Exped. S. Afr. xxx. 289 But neither fount, nor pool, nor running stream, greeted my straining gaze.
1888 F. Hume Madame Midas i. Prol. 14 Holding the straining sail by a stout rope twisted round his arm.
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 281 Much harm may be done by straining efforts in defœcation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > astringent or restringent preparations > [adjective]
bindingc1384
restraininga1398
straininga1398
constraining1398
strictivea1400
stypticc1400
restrictive?a1425
styptical1528
astringent?1541
constrictive1541
restringitive1559
astrictive1562
restringing1562
restringent1565
constringent1603
astrictory1620
styptive1640
constipating1658
stegnotic1674
staltic1748
constringing1757
apocrustic1853
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. liii. 945 Ivy is swiþe medicinal þough he be bitter. Þe vertu þerof is streynynge and helith þerfore þe bloody flux.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Streygninge or bitinge as ginger..[etc.], stipticus.
Derivatives
ˈstrainingly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [adverb] > excessive or abnormal
strainingly1828
a-strain1856
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > [adverb] > expressing prolongation in space > drawn out in length > forcibly or tightly
strainingly1828
1828 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 23 773 Stood he strainingly upright.
1831 E. J. Trelawny Adventures Younger Son III. xl. 276 The tense cords strainingly drawn from heart to brain.
1883 R. Broughton Belinda I. i. xiii. 229 Belinda has opened the envelope, and is staring strainingly at the paper.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online June 2020).
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n.c1400
adj.a1398