[…] with animals and plants a cross between different varieties, or between individuals of the same variety but of another strain, gives vigour and fertility to the offspring;[…]
They say this year's flu virus is a particularly virulent strain.
2009 August 4, Lawrence K. Altman, “New Strain of H.I.V. Is Discovered”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
European scientists have discovered a new strain of the virus that causes AIDS and linked it to gorillas, creating a mystery about when and how the first patient found to have the strain became infected.
a.1694, John Tillotson, The Advantages of Religion to Societies:
Intemperance and lust breed diseases, which being propogated, spoil the strain of a nation.
(music,poetry) Any sustained note or movement; a song; a distinct portion of an ode or other poem; also, the pervading note, or burden, of a song, poem, etc.
Yet Keats, though for so many years he has given nothing to the world, is understood to have devoted himself to the composition of an epic poem. Some passages of it have been communicated to the inner circle of his admirers, and impressed them as the loftiest strains that have been audible on earth since Milton’s days.
Language that is eloquent, poetic, or otherwise heightened.
(The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
So hauing said, her twixt her armes twaine / She straightly straynd, and colled tenderly […]
1697, Virgil, “The Eighth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis.[…], London:[…]Jacob Tonson,[…], →OCLC:
Evander with a close embrace /Strained his departing friend.
1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:
"Farewell!"—the mother strained her child to her heart again, and again put her from her, to embrace her more closely.
Thus my plight was evil indeed, for I had nothing now to burn to give me light, and knew that 'twas no use setting to grout till I could see to go about it. Moreover, the darkness was of that black kind that is never found beneath the open sky, no, not even on the darkest night, but lurks in close and covered places and strains the eyes in trying to see into it.
(transitive) To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in terms of intent or meaning.
to strain the law in order to convict an accused person
(transitive) To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain.
1641 (first performance), [John Denham], The Sophy.[…], 2nd edition, London:[…] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman,[…], published 1667, →OCLC, Act III, page 42:
Prince. How does my Father?/Princeſs. Still talks and plays with Fatyma, but his mirth / Is forc'd and ſtrain'd: In his look appears / A wild diſtracted fierceneſs;[…]
Nevertheless, it is clear that the global energy demand for air-conditioning will grow substantially as nations become more affluent,[…]. This trend will put additional strain not only on global energy resources but also on the environmental prospects of a warming planet.
1832, Charles Stewart Drewry (A.M.I.C.E.), A memoir on suspension bridges, page 183:
If the Menai Bridge, for instance, were loaded at that rate, the entire strain on the main chains would be about 2000 tons; while the chains containing 260 square inches of iron would bear, at 9 tons per square inch, 2340 tons, without stretching ...
2004, Sanjay Shrivastava, Medical Device Materials: Proceedings from the Materials & Processes for Medical Devices Conference 2003, 8-10 September 2003, Anaheim, California, ASM International, →ISBN, page 176:
Therefore, the goal of this study is to assess the influence of strain on the corrosion resistance of passivated Nitinol and stainless steel implant materials. Materials and Methods Nitinol (50.8%at. Ni) wire (NDC, Fremont, CA) and 316L stainless ...
A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles.
he jumped up with a strain
the strain upon the sailboat's rigging
An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain.
2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 162:
They used steroids to build strength but, more importantly, to recover from strains, pulls, dislocations.
Dirk Kuyt sandwiched a goal in between Carroll's double as City endured a night of total misery, with captain Carlos Tevez limping off early on with a hamstring strain that puts a serious question mark over his participation in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Wembley.
1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 149:
Detailed records are kept of the strains imposed on the bridge by the violent gales that frequently sweep the firth, and a self-recording wind gauge is fixed on the top of the tower.
Sir, as I have a soul, ſhe is an Angell;/ Our King has all the Indies in his Armes, / And more, and richer, when he ſtraines that Lady, / I cannot blame his Conſcience.