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Webster 1913 Edition

Adj.

Noun.

from

Straining piece

(Arch.)

a short piece of timber in a truss, used to maintain the ends of struts or rafters, and keep them from slipping. See Illust. of

ppr.

Stretching; exerting with violence; making great efforts; filtering.

Noun.

The act of stretching; the act of filtering; filtration.

straining

straining ‎(plural strainings)

The act by which one strains.
Sundry violent gaspings and strainings. — Herman Melville.