straining post

A post firmly fixed in the ground, from which wire fences are strained or stretched tight. straining-reel, s. Saddlery: A tool for taking the stretch out of webbing before putting it on the tree, as a found a tion for the saddle-seat. straining-sill, 8. Carp.: A piece of timber on the tie-beam, between the feet of the queen-posts, to hold them against the thrust of the struts. *straint, s . [STRAIN (1), s .) A strain, an effort, a pre ure. "That with the straint his wesand nigh he brast." Spenser: F. Q., V. ii. 14. strāit, *straight ( gh silent), *strayt, *strayte, *streight, *streit, *streite, *streyt, a., adv . & s. [O. Fr. estreit , estroict (Fr. étroit ), from Lat. stric tus strait, strict (q.v.); Span. estrecho ; Italian stretto . Strait and strict are doublets.] A. As adjective : 1. Narrow, close, not wide. "Enter ye in at the strait gate."- Matthew vii. 13. 2. Confined, small. "The place where we dwell is too strait for us."2 Kings vi. 1. *3. Tight, close, not loose. "In your strait stro ers." -Shakesp .: Henry V., iii. 7. *4. Close, niggardly, stingy, mean, avaricious. "You are so strait and so ingrateful." IMG:content-0386.png:[blocks in formation] *2. A strip of land between two seas; an isthmus. 3. A narrow pa age of water between two seas or oceans. (Often used in the plural; as, the Straits of Dover.) "Through Helle's stormy straits, and oyster-breeding Dryden: Virgil, Georgic i. 297. sea. " fate, făt, färe, IMG:content-0387.png:[blocks in formation] 2. To make tense or tight; to draw tight. "Stretch them at their length, And pull the straightened cords with all your strength." Dryden. ( Todd.) 3. To diminish, to reduce, to le en. "[She] does a mischief while she lends a grace, Straitening its growth by such a strict embrace." Cowper: Retirement , 234. II. Fig .: Τo place in a state of distre or difficulty; to embarra , to pre ; to put in pecuniary difficulties. "That we may not pretend to want objects of compa ion and charity, or to grow straitened and narrow in our affections, all mankind have an interest and concern in them."-Water land: Works , viii. 374. strand strāke (1), 8. [STREAK, 8.] I. Ordinary Language: *1. A streak, a band. "Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut-tree, and pilled white strakes in them." Genesis Xxx. 37. *2. A narrow board. 3. A band on the felly of a wheel, in sections, and not continuous like a tire. II. Technically : 1. Mining : An inclined trough for separating ground ore according to gravity, by means of a flow of water; a launder. 2. Ship build .: A continuous line of planking or plates on a ve el's side; reaching from stem to stern. *strāke (2), 8. [STRIKE, s.] A bushel. *strāke, v . i . [A. S.strác , pa. t. of strican =to go, to strike.] [STRAGGLE.] To go, to pa , to roam. "They ouer lond straketh ." -Piers Plowman's Crede, 82. străk-o-nitz'-ite, s . [After Strakonitz, Bohemia, where it occurs; suff. -ite ( Min .).] Min.: A steatitic mineral substance occurring in greenish-yellow crystals, pseudomorphous after augite (q. v.). *strāle, s . [ Ger.strahl =aray.) The pupil of the eye. ( Withal .) străm, v. i. & t. [Cf. Low Ger. strammen; Dan. stramme to strain, to stretch; str am =stretched.] A. Intransitive: 1. To spring or recoil violently. (Prov. Eng .) 2. To spread out the limbs; to walk ungracefully; to straddle. B. Transitive: To dash down violently; to beat. ( Prov . Eng.)