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Strive vs Focus - What's the difference?

strive | focus |

As verbs the difference between strive and focus

is that strive is to try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently while focus is to cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.

As nouns the difference between strive and focus

is that strive is an effort; a striving while focus is a point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge.

strive

English

Verb

  • To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently.
  • He strove to excel.
  • To struggle in opposition; to be in contention or dispute; to contend; to contest.
  • to strive against fate
    to strive for the truth
  • * Denham
  • Now private pity strove with public hate, / Reason with rage, and eloquence with fate.
  • To vie; to compete as a rival.
  • * Milton
  • [Not] that sweet grove / Of Daphne, by Orontes and the inspired / Castalian spring, might with this paradise / Of Eden strive .

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See * The strong or irregular forms "strove" and "striven" are more commonly used in print than "strived".

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) An effort; a striving.
  • (Chapman)
  • (obsolete) strife; contention
  • focus

    English

    (wikipedia focus)

    Noun

  • (countable, optics) A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge.
  • (countable, geometry) A point of a conic at which rays reflected from a curve or surface converge.
  • (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The fact of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus'.
  • (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The quality of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
  • (uncountable) Concentration of attention.
  • (countable, seismology) The exact point of where an earthquake occurs, in three dimensions.
  • (computing, graphical user interface) The indicator of the currently active element in a user interface.
  • (linguistics) The most important word or phrase in a sentence or passage, or the one that imparts information.
  • Verb

  • To cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.
  • To adjust (a lens, an optical instrument) in order to position an image with respect to the focal plane.
  • You'll need to focus the microscope carefully in order to capture the full detail of this surface.
  • To concentrate one's attention.
  • Focus on passing the test.
  • To concentrate one’s attention.
  • If you're going to beat your competitors, you need to focus .

    Usage notes

    The spellings focusses'', ''focussing'', ''focussed'' are more common in Commonwealth English than in American English, but in both varieties they are less common than the spellings ''focuses'', ''focusing'', ''focused .

    Derived terms

    * focus group * in focus * out of focus