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Strain vs Wit - What's the difference?

strain | wit |

As a noun strain

is (obsolete) treasure or strain can be the act of straining, or the state of being strained.

As a verb strain

is (obsolete) to hold tightly, to clasp.

strain

English

(wikipedia strain)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), .

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) Treasure.
  • (obsolete) The blood-vessel in the yolk of an egg.
  • (archaic) Race; lineage, pedigree.
  • * Shakespeare
    • He is of a noble strain .
  • * Darwin
    • With animals and plants a cross between different varieties, or between individuals of the same variety but of another strain , gives vigour and fertility to the offspring.
  • Hereditary character, quality, or disposition.
    • There is a strain of madness in her family.
  • * Tillotson
    • Intemperance and lust breed diseases, which, propogated, spoil the strain of nation.
  • A tendency or disposition.
  • (literary) Any sustained note or movement; a song; a distinct portion of an ode or other poem; also, the pervading note, or burden, of a song, poem, oration, book, etc.; theme; motive; manner; style
  • (biology) A particular breed or race of animal, microbe etc.
    • They say this year's flu virus is a particularly virulent strain .
  • (music) A portion of music divided off by a double bar; a complete musical period or sentence; a movement, or any rounded subdivision of a movement.
  • (rare) A kind or sort (of person etc.).
  • * Dryden
    • the common strain
    Quotations
    * (English Citations of "strain")
    Related terms
    * strew

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) estreindre (whence French .

    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.

    Noun

  • The act of straining, or the state of being strained.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= Michael Sivak
    • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Will AC Put a Chill on the Global Energy Supply? , passage=Nevertheless, it is clear that the global energy demand for air-conditioning will grow substantially as nations become more affluent,
  • A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles.
  • An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=April 11, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Liverpool 3-0 Man City , passage=Dirk Kuyt sandwiched a goal in between Carroll's double as City endured a night of total misery, with captain Carlos Tevez limping off early on with a hamstring strain that puts a serious question mark over his participation in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Wembley.}}
  • A dimensionless measure of object deformation either referring to engineering strain or true strain.
  • (label) The track of a deer.
  • * 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, p. 145:
    • When they have shot a Deere by land, they follow him like bloud-hounds by the bloud, and straine , and oftentimes so take them.

    Anagrams

    * English control verbs English terms with multiple etymologies

    wit

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl), from (etyl) . Compare (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Sanity.
  • The senses.
  • Intellectual ability; faculty of thinking, reasoning.
  • The ability to think quickly; mental cleverness, especially under short time constraints.
  • Intelligence; common sense.
  • Humour, especially when clever or quick.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;
  • A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes; someone witty.
    • Synonyms
    * See also
    Derived terms
    * brevity is the soul of wit * collect one's wits * gather one's wits * have one’s wits about one * inwit * mother wit * native wit * scare out of one’s wits * witcraft * witful * witless * witling * witter * wittol * witticism

    See also

    (type of humor) * acid * biting * cutting * lambent

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) . Compare (m).

    Verb

    (head)
  • (ambitransitive, chiefly, archaic) Know, be aware of .
    • You committed terrible actions — to wit , murder and theft — and should be punished accordingly.
    They are meddling in matters that men should not wit of.
  • * 1849 , , St. Luke the Painter , lines 5–8
    • but soon having wist
    How sky-breadth and field-silence and this day
    Are symbols also in some deeper way,
    She looked through these to God and was God’s priest.
    Conjugation
    {, , - , valign="top" , {, class="prettytable" , - ! Infinitive , to wit , - ! Imperative , wit , - ! Present participle , witting , - ! Past participle , wist , } , valign="top" , {, class="prettytable" , - ! ! Present indicative ! Past indicative , - ! First-person singular , I wot , I wist , - ! Second-person singular , thou wost, wot(test) (archaic); you wot , thou wist(est) (archaic), you wist , - ! Third-person singular , he/she/it wot , he/she/it wist , - ! First-person plural , we wit(e) , we wist , - ! Second-person plural , ye wit(e) (archaic); you wit(e) , ye wist (archaic), you wist , - ! Third-person plural , they wit(e) , they wist , } , }
    Usage notes
    * As a preterite-present verb, the third-person singular indicative form is not .
    Derived terms
    * to wit * unwitting * witness

    Etymology 3

    From English with.

    Preposition

    (head)
  • (en-SoE)

    • Anagrams

    * English irregular verbs English terms with homophones ----