Verb

(en verb)

(obsolete) To hold tightly, to clasp.

* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.ii:

So hauing said, her twixt her armes twaine / She straightly straynd , and colled tenderly [...].

* Dryden

Evander with a close embrace / Strained his departing friend.

To apply a force or forces to by stretching out.

to strain''' a rope; to '''strain the shrouds of a ship

Relations between the United States and Guatemala traditionally have been close, although at times strained by human rights and civil/military issues.

To damage by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force.

The gale strained the timbers of the ship.

To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as when bending a beam.

To exert or struggle (to do something), especially to stretch (one's senses, faculties etc.) beyond what is normal or comfortable.

Sitting in back, I strained to hear the speaker.

* Shakespeare

To build his fortune I will strain a little.

* Shakespeare

He sweats, / Strains his young nerves.

* Dryden

They strain their warbling throats / To welcome in the spring.

* 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4

Thus my plight was evil indeed, for I had nothing now to burn to give me light, and knew that 'twas no use setting to grout till I could see to go about it. Moreover, the darkness was of that black kind that is never found beneath the open sky, no, not even on the darkest night, but lurks in close and covered places and strains the eyes in trying to see into it.

To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in terms of intent or meaning.

to strain the law in order to convict an accused person

* Jonathan Swift

There can be no other meaning in this expression, however some may pretend to strain it.

To tighten (the strings of a musical instrument); to uplift (one’s voice).

To separate solid from liquid by passing through a strainer or colander

To percolate; to be filtered.

water straining through a sandy soil

To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain.

* Denham

He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirth / Is forced and strained .

* Shakespeare

The quality of mercy is not strained .

To urge with importunity; to press.

to strain a petition or invitation

* Shakespeare

Note, if your lady strain his entertainment.

Verb

To create.

#To construct or produce.

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#*:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.

#*

#*:I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.

#*

#*:Yet in “Through a Latte, Darkly”, a new study of how Starbucks has largely avoided paying tax in Britain, Edward Kleinbard. In Starbucks’s case, the firm has in effect turned the process of making an expensive cup of coffee into intellectual property.

#To write or compose.

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#To bring about.

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To behave, to act.

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(lb) To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for'' or ''against .

*(Matthew Arnold) (1822-1888)

*:It makes for his advantage.

*(Bible), (w) xiv.19:

*:Follow after the things which make for peace.

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:Considerations infinite / Do make against it.

To constitute.

:

*2014 , A teacher, " Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents", The Guardian , 23 September:

*:So if your prospective school is proudly displaying that "We Are Outstanding" banner on its perimeter fence, well, that is wonderful … but do bear in mind that in all likelihood it has been awarded for results in those two subjects, rather than for its delivery of a broad and balanced curriculum which brings out the best in every child. Which is, of course, what makes a great primary school.

*1995 , Harriette Simpson Arnow: Critical Essays on Her Work , p.46:

*:Style alone does not make a writer.

*

*:We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead?cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.

To interpret.

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To bring into success.

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*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)

*:who makes or ruins with a smile or frown

To cause to be.

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*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}

To cause to appear to be; to represent as.

* (c.1568-1645)

*:He is not that goose and ass that Valla would make him.

*

*:So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something).

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*:In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.Strangers might enter the room, but they were made to feel that they were there on sufferance: they were received with distance and suspicion.

To force to do.

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To indicate or suggest to be.

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To cover neatly with bedclothes.

To recognise, identify.

*1939 , (Raymond Chandler), (The Big Sleep) , Penguin 2011, p.33:

*:I caught sight of him two or three times and then made him turning north into Laurel Canyon Drive.

*2004 , George Nolfi et al., (w, Ocean's Twelve) , Warner Bros. Pictures, 0:50:30:

*:Linus Caldwell: Well, she just made Danny and Yen, which means in the next 48 hours the three o' your pictures are gonna be in every police station in Europe.

*2007 May 4, Andrew Dettmann et al., "Under Pressure", episode 3-22 of , 00:01:16:

*:David Sinclair: (walking) Almost at Seventh; I should have a visual any second now. Damn, that was close.
Don Eppes: David, he make you?
David Sinclair: No, I don't think so.

To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time.

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*Sir (Thomas Browne) (1605-1682)

*:They that sail in the middle can make no land of either side.

To proceed (in a direction).

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(lb) To cover (a given distance) by travelling.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.}}

*1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), , Chapter VIII:

*:I made over twenty miles that day, for I was now hardened to fatigue and accustomed to long hikes, having spent considerable time hunting and exploring in the immediate vicinity of camp.

(lb) To move at (a speed).

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To appoint; to name.

*1991 , Bernard Guenée, Between Church and State: The Lives of Four French Prelates (ISBN 0226310329):

*:On November 15, 1396,Benedict XIII made him bishop of Noyon;

To induct into the Mafia or a similar organization (as a made man).

*1990 , Nicholas Pileggi & Martin Scorsese, (Goodfellas) :

*:Jimmy Conway: They're gonna make him.

*:Henry Hill: Paulie's gonna make you?

To defecate or urinate.

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(lb) To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status).

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*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 2, work=BBC

, title= Wales 2-1 Montenegro , passage=Wales' defence had an unfamiliar look with Cardiff youngster Darcy Blake preferred to 44-cap Danny Gabbidon of Queen's Park Rangers, who did not even make the bench.}}

*{{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 20, author=Nathan Rabin, work=The Onion AV Club

, title= TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992) , passage=Bart spies an opportunity to make a quick buck so he channels his inner carny and posits his sinking house as a natural wonder of the world and its inhabitants as freaks, barking to dazzled spectators, “Behold the horrors of the Slanty Shanty! See the twisted creatures that dwell within! Meet Cue-Ball, the man with no hair!”}}

(lb) To pay, to cover (an expense);

*1889 May 1, Chief Justice , Pensacola & A. R. Co. v. State'' of Florida (judicial opinion), reproduced in ''The Southern Reporter , Volume 5, West Publishing Company, p.843:

*:Whether,would present a case in which the exaction of prohibitory or otherwise onerous rates may be prevented, though it result in an impossibility for some or all of the roads to make expenses, we need not say; no such case is before us.

*2005 , Yuvi Shmul and Ron Peltier, Make It Big with Yuvi: How to Buy Or Start a Small Business, the Best Investment , AuthorHouse, ISBN 1-4259-0021-6, p.67:

*:At first glance, you may be able to make' rent and other overhead expenses because the business is doing well, but if sales drop can you still ' make rent?

*2011 , Donald Todrin, Successfully Navigating the Downturn , Entrepreneur Press, ISBN 1-59918-419-2, p.194:

*:So you can’t make' payroll. This happens.many business owners who have never confronted it before will be forced to deal with this most difficult matter of not ' making payroll.

To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify.

:(Chaucer)

:(Tennyson)

*ca.1360-1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman)

*:to solace him some time, as I do when I make

To enact; to establish.

*1791 , The (First Amendment to the United States Constitution):

*:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

To develop into; to prove to be.

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To form or formulate in the mind.

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(lb) To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; often in the phrase to meddle or make .

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:a scurvy, jack-a-nape priest to meddle or make

(lb) To increase; to augment; to accrue.

(lb) To be engaged or concerned in.

*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)

*:Gomez, what makest thou here, with a whole brotherhood of city bailiffs?