I.
noun
1 severe demand on strength, resources, etc.
ADJECTIVE
▪ considerable , enormous , great , heavy , real , severe , terrible , tremendous
▪
It's a real ~ having to get up so early!
▪ slight
▪ increasing
▪ constant
▪ excessive , intolerable ( esp. BrE ), unbearable , undue
▪ emotional , financial , mental , nervous , physical , psychological
▪
The mental ~ of sharing an office with Alison was starting to show.
VERB + STRAIN
▪ be under , come under , feel , suffer , suffer from
▪
Television newsreaders come under enormous ~.
▪
After weeks of overtime, she was starting to feel the ~.
▪ cause , create , impose , place , put
▪
Increasing demand is placing undue ~ on services.
▪ ease , reduce
▪ cope with , stand , take
▪ increase
STRAIN + VERB
▪ show , take its toll (on sb) , tell (on sb) ( BrE )
▪
After weeks of uncertainty, the ~ was beginning to take its toll.
PREPOSITION
▪ under the ~
▪
The ice gave way under the ~.
▪
He broke down under the ~ of having to work twelve hours a day.
▪ ~ on
▪
Losing the business put a ~ on their relationship.
PHRASES
▪ a bit of a ~
▪
I found it a bit of a ~ making conversation with her.
▪ signs of ~
▪
After three years, their marriage was beginning to show signs of ~.
▪ stresses and ~s
▪
the stresses and ~s of a long day
▪ take the ~ off sb , take the ~ out of sth
▪
The Internet takes the ~ out of shopping.
2 injury
ADJECTIVE
▪ bad
▪ slight
▪ back , eye ( esp. BrE ), muscle , thigh , etc.
VERB + STRAIN
▪ be suffering from , have
▪ get
▪
You'll get eye ~ if you don't put the light on.
▪ recover from , shake off ( BrE )
▪
Gerrard will play if he can shake off a slight thigh ~.
3 type of virus or bacteria
ADJECTIVE
▪ new
▪ mutant
▪ virulent
▪ antibiotic-resistant , drug-resistant , resistant
▪ bacterial , viral
▪ flu , influenza
VERB + STRAIN
▪ discover , identify
▪ analyse/analyze , examine , test
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ of
▪
H5N1 is a ~ of avian influenza.
II.
verb
1 make a great effort to do sth
ADVERB
▪ hard
▪
You could see he was ~ing hard to understand.
▪ forward
▪
I ~ed forward to get a better view.
VERB + STRAIN
▪ have to
PREPOSITION
▪ against
▪
The dogs were ~ing against the sled.
▪ at
▪
Several men were ~ing at a rope, trying to move the stalled vehicle.
▪ for
▪
Their ears ~ed for any slight sound.
▪ under ( often figurative )
▪
The company is already ~ing under the weight of a $12 billion debt.
PHRASES
▪ ~ to hear sth , ~ to see sth
▪
We had to ~ to hear what was being said.
2 put a lot of pressure on sth
ADVERB
▪ seriously , severely
▪
The dispute severely ~ed relations between the two countries.
PHRASES
▪ ~ sth to breaking point ( BrE ), ~ sth to the breaking point ( AmE )
▪
Our public health laboratories are ~ed to (the) breaking point.
▪ ~ sth to its limits , ~ sth to the limit
Strain is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ ear , ↑ eye , ↑ muscle
Strain is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ budget , ↑ credulity , ↑ ear , ↑ eye , ↑ finance , ↑ juice , ↑ ligament , ↑ liquid , ↑ mixture , ↑ muscle , ↑ neck , ↑ nerve , ↑ patience , ↑ resource , ↑ spaghetti , ↑ voice