c1330 Arth. & Merl. 1021 For þe misbeȝeten stren Quic y schal now doluen ben!

c1400 Rom. Rose 4859 Bicause al is corumpable, And faile shulde successioun, Ne were ther generacioun Our sectis strene for to save.

c1440 Sir Gowther 202 Thow comest never of Crists strene, Thou art sum fendes sone y wene.

1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur xiii. viii. 622 He is..of the best men of the world comen and of the strene of alle partyes of kynges.

1569 Irish Act 11 Eliz. c. 1. (1621) 315 Least that any man..might be ledde..to thinke that the strene or lyne of the Oneyles should..hold or possesse anie part of the dominion..of Ulster.

1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) vi. xxxi. 140 Of that Streene shall Fiue at length re-raigne.

1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements ii. xxxix. 402 His carkasse..was hanged vpon a gallowes, and all his kindred and children put to death, that there might not one remaine of his straine.

1624 F. Quarles Iob Militant x. Med. xxviii And left his Empire to another Straine.

1676 T. Shadwell Virtuoso i. 2 It must needs be so; for Gentlemen care not upon what strain they get their Sons, nor how they breed 'em, when they have got 'em.

1688 J. Dryden Britannia Rediviva 9 And, for his Estian Race, and Saxon Strain, Might re-produce some second Richard's Reign.

1700 M. Prior Carmen Sæculare 4 Charlemain, And the long Heroes of the Gallic Strain.

1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda IV. viii. lxiii. 247 I come of a strain that has ardently maintained the fellowship of our race.

1863 G. J. Whyte-Melville Gladiators I. ii. 26 It might have been the strain of Greek blood which filtered through his veins, that tempered his Roman courage..with the pliancy, essential to conspiracy and intrigue.

1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 8 June 11 These animals are usually a cross between the bulldog and the mastiff, and are all the better if dashed with a strain of the bloodhound.

1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 93 She's just a Highland lady Touched with an Eastern strain.

1897 Times 11 Mar. 12/2 Lord Coventry..said..He had not bought horses in Ireland as hunters which had any strain of hackney or cart-horse blood.

1902 R. Bagot Donna Diana ix. 103 The features were regular..with something about..the moulding of the nose and chin that suggested a strain of Jewish blood.

1607 G. Markham Cavelarice i. 26 I..know, that if a man will continue his breede altogether in one straine, without any alteration or strangenesse [he] shall in the ende finde his studd to decay.

?1615 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses (new ed.) xiv. 31 By them, Mastiues as au tere As sauage beasts, lay euer. Their fierce straine Bred by the Herdsman.

c1650 in W. J. Thoms Anecd. & Trad. (Camden) 47 The cocke was match't, and bearing Sir Thomas Jermin's name... Everyone wond'red to see Sir Thomas his streine cry Craven.

a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 32 Coach-mares, bred but of his own straine.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 8 Two Kids..Both fleck'd with white, the true Arcadian Strain.

1708 Chamberlayne's Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (1743) i. i. iii. 12 The Sheep of Cotswold have so fine a Wool, that the Spanish strain ('tis said) came from a Present of Edward I. made of these Sheep to Alphonso King of Spain.

1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 46 The former hogs of the cross strain.

1847 W. C. L. Martin Ox 70/1 Crosses with the Hereford were tried,..but soon, after one or two generations, the defects of the Glamorganshire strain reappeared.

1854 Poultry Chron. 1 246/2 To keep up a stock of first-rate fowls it is necessary every other year to cross the strain.

1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species i. 34 Eminent breeders try by methodical selection, with a distinct object in view, to make a new strain or sub-breed, superior to anything existing in the country.

1868 Field 4 July 22/2 Two Pups of his strain of the above breed [of St. Bernard's].

1872 L. Wright Illustr. Bk. Poultry 207 Strain, a race of fowls which, having been carefully bred by one breeder or his successors for years, has acquired an individual character of its own which can be more or less relied upon.

1884 Expositor Jan. 35 The animals which man has bred into new and specialized strains.

1845 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) 6 42 It has..taken a number of years to obtain what florists term a ‘strain’ of flowers likely to lead to great results.

1849 J. F. Wood Midland Florist iii. 121 Every tulip grower is aware of the importance of getting a good strain of any given variety.

1908 Church Times 20 Mar. 392/4 Begonias, gold medal strain, equal to any in the kingdom.

1605 B. Jonson Sejanus i. i. 88 'Tis wee are..degenerate from th' exalted streine Of our great Fathers. View more context for this quotation

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxiv. 38 Sir you haue shewed to day your valiant strain, And Fortune led you well. View more context for this quotation

1671 J. Tillotson Serm. iii. 135 Intemperance and Lust breed infirmities and diseases, which being propagated, spoil the Strain of a Nation.

1681 W. Robertson Phraseologia generalis (1693) 1176 A strain, indoles.

1853 C. Brontë Villette I. ii. 20 Neither in mien nor features was this creature like her sire, and yet she was of his strain: her mind had been filled from his, as the cup from the flagon.

1605 London Prodigall iii. ii. 172 Such mad straines as hee's possesst withall.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) ii. i. 84 For sure vnlesse hee know some straine in mee, that I know not my selfe, hee would neuer haue boorded me in this furie. View more context for this quotation

a1627 J. Hayward Life & Raigne Edward Sixt (1630) 7 Because Heretickes for the most part haue a straine of madnesse, he thought it best to apply her with some corporall chastisements.

1633 T. Heywood Eng. Traveller 1 The French is of one humor, Spaine another, The hot Italian hee's a straine from both.

1704 J. Swift Disc. Mech. Operat. Spirit i, in Tale of Tub 289 A Fanatick Strain, or Tincture of Enthusiasm.

1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate i She really has a strain of nobility under all her flightiness.

1899 P. H. Brown Hist. Scotl. I. ii. ii. 95 There was in him a strain of superstition which distorted his vision in all matters concerned with the church.

1906 Lit. World 15 Nov. 489/2 There was..a strain of insanity in the family.

1690 W. Temple Ess. Gardens of Epicurus in Wks. (1770) III. 204 It was no mean strain of his philosophy to refuse being secretary to Augustus.

1695 W. Temple Introd. Hist. Eng. (1699) 146 It looks like a Strain of his usual Boldness and fearless Temper.

1600–9 S. Rowlands Knaue of Clubbes 32 A Cittie wanton full of pride and lust, Of Venus straine and disposition iust.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iii. iii. 176 Mist. Page. Hang him dishonest rascall: I would all of the same straine, were in the same distresse. View more context for this quotation

1642 D. Rogers Naaman 57 And that by the confession even of some of his owne straine.

1645 D. Featley Καταβάπτισται Κατάπτυστοι sig. G2 So we have had but too just cause to complain of the like out-rages committed by some of the Zelots of that strain.

1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 4 Their [sc. the Druids'] high conceipt of their excellency above the ordinary straine of men.

a1660 Aphorismical Discov. in J. T. Gilbert Contemp. Hist. Ireland (1879) I. 172 The Councell that grannted such power to a partie of that straine, were malitiously intended.

1693 J. Dryden tr. Persius Satires v. 66 Thou, who lately of the common strain, Wer't one of us.

1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires i. i. 131 A bold Wench, of right Virago Strain.

1847 R. W. Emerson Poems 193 The world..was not ripe yet, to sustain A genius of so fine a strain.

1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (i. 2) 24 The contemplation of things of an higher strain.

1646 J. Maxwell Burden of Issachar 4 All crimes and scandals of highest strain, namely, such as are civilly punishable by death.

1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 227 But these Alterations are of a quite different Strain.

1702 S. Parker tr. Cicero Five Bks. De Finibus iv. 231 Hitherto your Objections have been Vulgar and of Course; and therefore I promise myself you have a higher Strein in Reserve.

1558 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 251 I ame not able to ryde nor shalbe I fear this iij or iiij dais by reason of a strayn.

1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 117 Saying that in things aboue reach, it was easie to catch a straine, but impossible to touch a Star.

1614 S. Latham Falconry ii. xxxvi. 135 This is a very speciall thing to comfort the sinnewes ouerstrained, and to cure & asswage the anguish of the straine.

1670 E. Borlase Latham Spaw 51 His Servant..got a strain in his back, lifting more than he could well master.

1706 Mare of Collingtoun in J. Watson Choice Coll. Scots Poems i. 60 It will be good against the Pine Of any Wriest or Strienzie.

1735 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. Strain,..an Extorsion of the Sinews beyond their natural Tone, sometimes called a Sprain.

1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 610 Strains are often attended with worse consequences than broken bones.

1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 383/1 Sprain, or Strain, is an injury of muscular or tendinous tissues, resulting from their being forcibly stretched beyond their natural length.

1596 Bp. W. Barlow tr. L. Lavater Three Christian Serm. ii. 81 For thogh the godly haue their slips and straines, yet it greeueth them.

1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas sig. D.j But had he seene, the streine of straunge deuise, Which Epicures, do now adayes inuent, To yeld good smacke, vnto their daintie tongues:..Then would he say, that [etc.].

1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xxvi. vii. 292 More odious than Cleander; who governing as Præfect..in a high straine (as it were) of out~rage and madnesse, made havocke..of divers mens estates.

1627 G. Hakewill Apologie iv. viii. 383 Yet Heliogabalus went a straine farther, and put it to a baser vse.

1631 R. Bolton Instr. Right Comf. Affl. Consciences 41 Crowne Him with the concurrence of all created earthy exellencies, to the utmost and highest straine.

1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xii. cxxx. 212 No Epicurean wishes ever were Advanced unto so sublime a strain, As to desire so rich a Draught as this.

1664 A. Wood Life & Times (1892) II. 2 The under-graduates..arrived to strang degree and streyn of impudence.

1667 Naphtali 91 This is a strain of wickedness above all that former times could imagine.

1685 E. Stillingfleet Origines Britannicæ v. 275 This is a Strain beyond Geffrey, who never thought of bringing the British Language from the Plain of Sennaar.

1711 J. Swift Argument abolishing Christianity in Misc. Prose & Verse 159 To Break an English Free-born Officer only for Blasphemy, was..a very high strain of absolute Power.

1714 A. Pope Corr. 3 Dec. (1956) I. 271 It is indeed a high Strain of Generosity in you, to think of making me easie all my Life.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 163 It was thought..an odd strain of clemency, if it was intended he [sc. Milton] should be forgiven.

1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. vi. 574 Justice was administered..without any peculiar strain of abuse.

1822 C. Lamb Detached Thoughts on Bks. in Elia 2nd Ser. I knew a Unitarian minister, who was generally to be seen upon Snowhill.., between the hours of ten and eleven in the morning, studying a volume of Lardner. I own this to have been a strain of abstraction beyond my reach.

1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 161 Saying the same thing in different ways..is a strain of art beyond the reach of most of us.

1593 M. Drayton Idea iii. sig. C3^v Faire Betas praise beyond our straine doth stretch, Her notes too hie for my poore pipe to reach.

1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor Induct. sig. Bii May our Minerva Answere your hopes, vnto their largest straine . View more context for this quotation

1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love i. v. sig. C4^v O how..base a thing is Man, If he not striue t'erect his groueling thoughts Aboue the straine of flesh? View more context for this quotation

1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Yy2 That wee beware wee take not at the first either to High a strayne or to weake: for if, too Highe in a different [erratum: diffident] nature you discorage, in a confident nature, you breede an opinion of facility. View more context for this quotation

1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia vi. 215 That long stretching Malean straine That shelues so farre into the maine.

1590 R. Greene Neuer too Late Canzone i. 41 Her pace was like to Iunoes pompous straines, When as she sweeps through heuens brasse paued way.

1592 T. Kyd Trueth Murthering of Brewen 4 He began to vomet exceedingly, with such straines as if his lungs would burst in peeces.

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxii. xxi. 126 As many as live thereof, are infested..neither with the dysenterie..ne yet with the troublesome offers and streins to the seege without doing any thing.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 101 This beast..doth not moue his right and left foote one after another, but both together,..whereby his whole body is remoued at euery step or straine.

a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) V. 38 The holy Ghost..deals not with him, as a Painter, which..passes his pencill an hundred times over every muscle,..but..as a Printer, that in one straine delivers a whole story.

1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 74a The Rise..was only for so little a way, that a beast heavy loaden cou'd get over it at one strain.

1771 R. James Diss. Fevers (ed. 8) 40 He had several strains for two hours, but never vomited.

1884 W. F. Butler Nile Boat Song in Pall Mall Gaz. 16 Oct. 4/2 Row, my boys, row away... Bend to the strain, men!

1851 E. B. Browning Casa Guidi Windows ii. xii. 104 With her wide eyes at full strain.

1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 432 A dismal wedding! every ear at strain Some sign of things that were to be to gain.

1884 Graphic 16 Aug. 166/1 Till..even nine at night they are perpetually on the strain.

1885 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche iii. xx. 35 Adonis..spear in hand with leashèd dogs at strain.

1900 F. T. Bullen With Christ at Sea xi. 227 They were all labouring at utmost strain to try and save the ship.

1693 J. Dryden tr. Plutarch Lives (rev. ed.) IV. 416 Yet with the utmost streins of their Valour, they were not able to beat the Enemy out of the Field.

1713 A. Pope in Guardian 16 Mar. 1/2 'Tis observable of the Female Poets and Ladies Dedicatory, that..they far exceed us in any Strain or Rant.

1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe IV. vii. 501 The Dialogues of the Dead..are condemned by some critics for their false taste and perpetual strain at something unexpected and paradoxical.

1870 J. Morley Vauvenargues in Crit. Misc. (1871) I. 21 Men think and work on the highest level when they move without conscious and deliberate strain after virtue.

1905 J. H. Jowett Passion for Souls 84 There shall be strenuousness without strain!

1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida i. sig. B4^v Heele snap in two at euery little straine.

1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xx. 535 That by directing the pull on the bottle a little on one side or the other, the strain upon the stopper may be equal or nearly so on the two sides.

1829 P. Barlow Mechanics in Encycl. Metrop.: Mixed Sci. I. 61/1 Our object is to investigate the conditions of equilibrium between the resistance of solids, and the strains to which they may be exposed.

a1830 J. F. W. Herschel Light in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) IV. 565 The general problem, then, to investigate the actual state of strain of any molecule at any moment is one of some complexity.

1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss. 1038 Strain, the force exerted on any material tending to disarrange or destroy the cohesion of its component parts.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Set up rigging, to take in the slack of the shrouds, stays, and backstays, to bring the same strain as before, and thus secure the masts.

1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 355 Table III. Behavior of the principal woods of the United States under transverse strain.

1888 E. A. P. Burt Stand. Timber Measurer 312 Table of Breaking Strains.

1850 W. J. M. Rankine Misc. Sci. Papers (1881) 68 Although the word strain is used in ordinary language indiscriminately to denote relative molecular displacement, and the force by which it is produced,..I shall..use it, throughout this paper, in the restricted sense of relative displacement of particles, whether consisting in dilatation, condensation, or distortion; while under the term pressure I shall include [etc.].

1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. §154 We have now to consider the very important kinematical conditions presented by the changes of volume or figure experienced by a solid or liquid mass... Any such definite alteration of form or dimensions is called a Strain.

1912 Games & Nav. Milit. Tournament 3 The pulls will be started by the Referee by word of mouth:—‘Take the strain’, on which both teams will put a strain on the rope without pulling.

1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 38 Among the other field sports I might single out..the tug of war with its expressions to take the strain (i.e. when each side pulls the rope taut before the signal for the tug is given by the dropping of a handkerchief), and to pull one's weight.., both of which lend themselves to figurative use.

a1628 F. Greville Life of Sidney (1651) i. 18 Any man..forced, in the straines of this life, to pass through any straights, or latitudes of good, or ill fortune.

1853 E. C. Gaskell Ruth III. vii. 209 I should not have been surprised last night if he had dropped down dead, so terrible was his strain upon himself.

1858 E. Bulwer-Lytton What will he do with It? xii. ix The reaction that follows all strain upon purpose.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxvii. 196 The strain upon the horses [was] very great.

1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda I. ii. xv. 295 A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.

1894 Lady M. Verney Verney Mem. III. 5 He had been often driven to borrow money of Sir Ralph..but their friendship had stood the strain.

1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 217 He was..a bright, intelligent young Frenchman; but..the strain of his responsibility had been too much for him.

1898 A. Conan Doyle Trag. Korosko v. 123 My Arabic won't bear much strain. I don't know what he is saying.

1908 R. Bagot Anthony Cuthbert xxiii. 309 His voice broke suddenly, and Sonia realised the strain he had been putting upon himself to meet his trouble quietly and courageously.

1884 Christian World 30 Oct. 821/1 The strain between the two Houses could, he thought, only be relaxed by mutual concessions.

1910 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 670/2 It is obvious that office B, which has a margin of income 50% greater than that of office A, is so much better able to bear any unusual strain in addition to the ordinary expenditure.

1929 F. L. Collins in R. C. Simmonds Life Assurance Text-bk. 128 The true risk which the office runs consists not in the whole sum assured, but in the difference required in the case of death to supplement the reserve value which it already has in hand…technically termed the ‘strain’.

1941 Economist 15 Mar. 344/1 When a premature death occurs, the loss to the office, known technically as the ‘strain’, is the difference between the policy moneys payable and the reserve carried, and it follows that this ‘strain’ will be much greater in the case of a young life than an old one.

1965 Fisher & Young Actuarial Practice of Life Assurance i. ii. 29 The net premium method of valuation failed to take account of this uneven incidence of expenses and caused what is termed a new business strain. It required the setting up of initial reserves which could not have been derived from the first premium since that had been largely or even entirely expended in the cost of the first year's risk and expenses.

1579 S. Gosson Apol. Schoole of Abuse in Ephemerides Phialo f. 85^v Pypers are very sore displeased bicause I allow not their new streines.

?1617 W. Mure To Prince Charles 4 Montgomery..often ravischt his harmonious ear W^t straynes fitt only for a prince to heir.

1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 22 in Justa Edouardo King That strain I heard was of a higher mood.

1687 J. Norris Coll. Misc. 89 Soft melting strains of Music.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 145 She supplies the Night with mournful Strains,..Which fills the Forrest, and the neighb'ring Plains.

1735 H. Fielding Universal Gallant Epil. sig. Gi By the vast Sums we pay them for their Strains, They'll think, perhaps, we don't abound in Brains.

1775 R. B. Sheridan Songs Duenna i. 1 Tell me, my lute, can thy fond strain So gently speak thy master's pain?

1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. ii. 40 Emily recollected the mysterious strains of music, that she had lately heard.

1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 347 When a soft strain of music stole up from the garden.

1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. i. 3 As for some dear familiar strain Untir'd we ask, and ask again.

1851 H. W. Longfellow Golden Legend iv. 161 This life of ours is a wild æolian harp of many a joyous strain.

1859 G. A. Sala Twice round Clock 108 The enlivening strains of the brass band.

1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 14 Notes are struck which are repeated from time to time, as in a strain of music.

1563 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Job 135 b This is not the naturall meening: and such as take it so, neuer knewe the intent of the holy Ghost as touching this streyne [Fr. quant à ce passage].

1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie ii. 18 b That then is the thing that wee haue to marke vppon this streyne [Fr. en ce passage].

1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (authorized ed.) i. §44 There be many excellent straines in that Poet [Lucan] . View more context for this quotation

1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 44 Till old experience do attain To somthing like Prophetic strain.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 8 Sicilian Muse begin a loftier strain!

1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 93. ⁋3 Interest and passion..will for ever bid defiance to the most powerful strains of Virgil or Homer.

1766 C. Anstey New Bath Guide i. iv. 6 Here teach fond Swains their hapless Loves In gentle Strains to weep.

1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 423 Aid slighted truth with thy persuasive strain.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Miller's Daughter (rev. ed.) in Poems (new ed.) I. 105 A love-song I had somewhere read, An echo from a measured strain.

1847 R. W. Emerson Goethe in Wks. (1906) I. 392 There are nobler strains in poetry than any he has sounded.

1858 J. Martineau Stud. Christianity 41 Who, having the strains of David, would pore over Leviticus?

1879 ‘G. Eliot’ Theophrastus Such ii. 32 I might have poured forth poetic strains which would have anticipated theory.

1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης vi. 50 The Simily..I was about to have found fault with, as in a garb somwhat more Poeticall then for a Statist: but meeting with many straines of like dress in other of his Essaies,..I begun to think that [etc.].

a1677 I. Barrow Several Serm. Evil-speaking (1678) iii. 124 When a man is..fiercely angry..he blustereth, and dischargeth his choler in most tragical strains.

1699 T. Baker Refl. Learning xv. 178 Macrobius speaks of his [sc. Hippocrates'] knowledge in such lofty strains, as are only agreeable to God Almighty.

1713 R. Steele Englishman No. 55. 355 Addresses came..with foolish Strains of Obedience without Reserve.

1741 D. Hume Ess. Moral & Polit. (1748) xvi. 144 Shall we assert, that the Strains of ancient Eloquence are unsuitable to our Age?

1742 C. Yorke in G. Harris Life Ld. Hardwicke (1847) II. 21 Dean Swift has had a statute of lunacy taken out against him. His madness appears chiefly in most incessant strains of obscenity and swearing.

1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Rolls) VII. 109 Kyng Kanute,..þat he myȝte streyne [L. astringeret] þe reme of Engelond more faste unto hym, wedded to his wyf Emme the queene.

c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §14. 8 Thorw wich pyn ther goth a litel wegge..þat streynet[h][MS streynet] alle thise parties to hepe.

c1450 in A. Macdonald & J. Dennistoun Misc. Maitland Club (1842) III. i. 201 Item ane salter befor the Licentiatis stal strenyeit.

a1513 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen in Poems (1998) I. 42 It is agane the law of luf, of kynd, and of nature, Togidder hartis to strene that stryveis with vther.

1530 Bible (Tyndale) Exod. xxxix. f. lxxiii^v And they strayned the brestlappe by his ringes vnto the ringes of the Ephod, with laces of Iacincte.

1856 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire IV. xxxiv. 105 It was requisite to strengthen and draw closer the bonds which strained them to the conquerors.

c1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 79 Also puluer of vitriol combuste streyneþ blode in euery place if it be putte by itself or with iuyse of any herbe streynyng blode.

1533 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe i. 8 b Flewme stiptik or binding,.. hath the tast lyke to grene redde wyne, or other lyke, straynyng the tunge.

1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Astrictus gustus, a rough or sharpe tast, that streigneth the tongue.

c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iii. 1205 This Troilus in armes gan hir streyne.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. ii. sig. Dd3^v So hauing sayd, her twixt her armes twaine Shee streightly straynd.

1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 39 ^v Euen as a mother comming to her child... With tender armes his gentle necke doth straine.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iv. i. 46 Our King ha[']s all the Indies in his Armes, And more, and richer, when he straines that Lady. View more context for this quotation

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 144 In vain, with folding Arms, the Youth assay'd To stop her flight, and strain the flying Shade. View more context for this quotation

1789 C. Smith Ethelinde V. xiii. 300 ‘She is mine’, continued he, straining her to his bosom.

1809 T. Campbell Gertrude of Wyoming i. xxiii He said—and strain'd unto his heart the boy.

1883 F. M. Peard Contradictions xxii He strained her to him again.

1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn II. xxxv. 17 He strained her again and again to his heart.

1518 H. Watson tr. Hystorye Olyuer of Castylle (Roxb.) C 4 He toke his leue of the quene, the whiche dydde strayne his fyngres togyder at the departynge.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. x. 9 [He said] I gyue you leue, and kyste hym, streynynge hym by the hande, in sygne of great loue.

1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια 330 She strained her husbands hand, and concluded both her speech, and life, with these complaining words.

1888 ‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Children viii. 57 ‘Mrs. Ferrers,’ cried Lassie, straining her thin hands together, ‘don't break it to me, please. Tell me the whole truth at once.’

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. vii. sig. S4 The one in hand an yron whip did strayne, The other brandished a bloody knife.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. v. 21 The third brother..droue at him with all his might and maine A forrest bill, which both his hands did straine.

1825 W. Scott Talisman ii, in Tales Crusaders IV. 32 ‘Name her not..’ said the King, again straining the curtal-axe in his gripe, until the muscles started above his brawny arm.

1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 17528 I Gryppe and streyne lyk a Gryffoun, And faste I holde ther-with-al Coper, yren, and ech metal.

1486 Bk. St. Albans, Hawking a vj b The .ix. [term belonging to hawking] she streynith and not Clithith nor Cratchith.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 738/1 I strayne, as a hauke doth, or any other syche lyke fowle or beest in theyr clawes, je estraings. Were a good glove I reede you, for your hauke strayneth harde.

1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 214 When they are vnable..to performe their parts..as not to be able to flee, or strayn the pray with their pownces.

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. iv. sig. Cc4 [The bear] Gnashing his cruell teeth at him in vaine, And threatning his sharpe clawes, now wanting powre to straine . View more context for this quotation

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Tollemache MS.) (1495) xiv. xlix [The field is] streynid in winter with froste and with colde, and swellid in somer with brennynge and with hete [L. hyeme gelu et frigore constringitur].

1445 tr. Claudian's De Consulatu Stilichonis in Anglia (1905) 28 271 Thi yiftes be not streyned In noon smal boke thei may be writen.

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 57 The see callede Pontus, diffusede from þens towarde the northe makethe the see callede Propontides. And from thens hit is streynede also into vj^c passes [L. stringitur in secentos passus].

?1527 Iudycyall of Vryns ii. iii. 17 b This feuer..is knowen by straynyng togyder of the browis.

1606 S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 37 Some like slimy and slipperie eeles, no sooner find themselues entangled in the nette, but they seeke to wind and straine out themselues.

1610 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes (ed. 2) 1211 By straining himselfe out at a little window..hee in safetie got downe to the ground.

a1678 A. Marvell Appleton House 31 As practising, in doors so strait, To strain themselves through Heavens Gate.

1605 W. Camden Remaines i. 84 Pernel, from Petronilla, Pretty-stone, as Piere and Perkin strained out of Petre.

a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxxi[i]. §12 In keuel and bridel streyn þaire chekis.

1340 Ayenb. 263 Þet is to zigge huych mayne to moche slac and wylles uol ssel by: bote yef þe ilke uaderes stefhede hise strayny and ordayny.

c1346 R. Rolle Prose Treat. 6 I..said þat I wald ryse and blesse vs in þe name of þe Haly Trynytee, and scho strenyde me so stallworthely þat I had no mouthe to speke, ne no hande to styrre.

c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 176 A stede ful stif to strayne.

1414 T. Brampton Paraphr. Seven Penit. Psalms (1842) 11 And streyne here chekys fro woordys y-dell, That kan noȝt holdyn here tungys stylle.

R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Mending of Life 112 Besy kepyng of þi vtward wittis, þat tastyn(g) sauerynge, herynge & seynge vndyr þe bridyll of gouernans wysely be strenyd.

c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 74 Þe loue of Goddis lawe..schuld streyn men fro þis Office.

1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes i, in Wks. 168/2 So hath God euer kepte man in humilite, straynyng him with y^e knowledge of confession of his ygnoraunce.

1533 T. More Answere Poysened Bk. i. xii. f. xlv Pray hym..to draw you, and as the prophete saith to pray him strayn your iawys with a bytte and a brydle.

1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos i. sig. A.ij You gave me might these stormy winds to strain or make to blow.

1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints 1190 Of men of armes he had but small regard, But kept them lowe, and streigned verie hard.

1595 W. Hunnis Life & Death Joseph 42 in Recreat. (new ed.) He did refraine and straine himselfe, as it had not been he.

1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. lviii. f. 336 When they happened to be strayned to straight lodging, y^e married gentleman would not sticke to suffer his friende to lye with him and his wife.

c1374 G. Chaucer Compl. Mars 220 To what fyn made the god that sit so hye, Benethen him, love other company, And streyneth folk to love, malgre hir hede?

a1400–50 Wars Alex. 3549 I hope þou wenes at we be like to þire lethire Persyns, Þat þou þi lordschip to loute has now on late strayned.

a1425 (a1400) Northern Pauline Epist. (1916) 2 Cor. v. 14 Caritas enim christi urget nos... Forwhy þe charite of crist streynes vs.

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 87 Folk may nocht be strenȝeit to mak weris.

1528 T. More Dialogue Heresyes ii, in Wks. 200/1 The profe..semeth me not very stronge nor able & sufficient to strayne a man to consent therto.

1531 in D. H. Fleming Reg. Privy Seal Scotl. (1921) II. 98/1 He is oblist and strenȝeit to mak continuale residence and service at the said chaplanriis.

1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Lij Some of these causes worke by the force and violence of nature, some by an outward powre, beyng strained thervnto.

1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Gloucester xix How stoutly we dyd the king strayne The Rule of his realme wholy to resygne.

1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 590 Who doubts but the enemie,..strained by necessitie,..will prey vpon your countries, houses, and goods?

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. iii. 46 Making that idiot laughter keepe mens eyes, And straine their cheekes to idle merriment. View more context for this quotation