strain
13
9.9
- noun
- /streɪn/
- Archaic
- We hear the loud strains of Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World."
Examples
-
"Beautiful night," he spoke, a strain of hopefulness in his voice.
Fiction book (1998) -
Softly to her ears came the low strains of a violin.
Fiction book (2000) -
- You were a quarter tone flat the entire last strain!
-
You will rise, and the strains of music will accompany you.
Fiction book (2001) -
Then, from a little cafe, came the strains of a waltz.
-
The red station wagon creeps along the highway to the whistled strains of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."
Fiction book (1993) -
- And alone at night... under a canopy of tropical stars... with the soft strains of a Viennese waltz coming from the salon.
-
Suffused lighting, elegant tile work featuring evocative mosaics, the quiet strains of classical music.
Fiction book (1998) -
We can hear distant revelry and the strains of "Auld Lang Syne."
Fiction book (1994) -
From somewhere down the street comes the strain of a familiar carol.
Synonyms
347
1.0
A series of musical notes that you can sing or hum
138
1.8
A series of musical notes that form the main tune of a song
36
7.2
A single musical tune or clear sound frequency
3
6.6
A simple tune that you can easily sing or hum
1
3.4
A short group of notes that sounds complete in a piece of music
1
4.5
A line of musical notes that forms the main tune
1
4.9
A short group of notes that sounds like one musical idea
Idioms
- Informal
1
7.1
To want to start doing something very eagerly while being held back
Compounds
1
4.0
A pain in the back muscles that comes after lifting or sudden movement
- Specialized
A tool that measures how much a material changes shape when pushed or pulled
Surface Forms
Etymology
Strain meaning a tune comes from the image of a 'line' or 'thread' of music, related to the same root as string. So a musical strain is a short line or stretch of melody you can hear and remember.