strain courtesy see under strain¹

strain¹ /strān/

1. To stretch
2. To draw tight
3. To draw with force
4. To exert to the utmost
5. To injure by overworking
6. To force unnaturally, unduly, or wrongly
7. To exalt emotionally
8. To change in form or bulk by subjecting to a stress
9. To constrain (obsolete)
10. To urge, insist upon, press for (Shakespeare)
11. To press to oneself, embrace
12. To squeeze, press
13. To grip, grasp tightly
14. To compress
15. To restrain
16. To squeeze out, express
17. To sing or play
18. To filter or sieve (esp coarsely)

1. To make violent efforts
2. To tug
3. To retch
4. To have difficulty in swallowing or accepting (with at)
5. To make efforts at evacuation of the bowels
6. To be percolated or filtered

1. The act of straining
2. A violent effort
3. An injury by straining, esp a wrenching of the muscles
4. Any change of form or bulk under stress
5. In a material subjected to a force, the ratio of the change in a dimension to the original value of the dimension (engineering)
6. A section of a melody
7. A melody
8. An outpouring or flow of language
9. Emotional tone, key, manner

strained adjective

1. Having been strained
2. Tense, forced or unnatural

strainˈedly (or /strāndˈli/) adverb

strainˈer noun

1. Someone who or something that strains
2. A sieve, colander, etc

strainˈing noun and adjective

strain gauge noun

A device for measuring strain (deformation) in a machine or structure

strain hardening noun

A process by which metal is deformed in order to increase its hardness

straining sill noun (building)

A piece of timber lying on the tie-beam of a timber roof and butting against the bottoms of the queen posts

strain viewer noun (physics)

An eyepiece or projector of a polariscope

strain a point

To waive a doubt or principle

strain courtesy (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet)

To treat with scant courtesy, or (Venus and Adonis) to be over-punctilious in courtesy