Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He said the UK had been "straining every sinew" to get aid into Gaza and that it "must be flooded in".

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2024

For weeks before the latest extreme weather kicked in, unusually heavy floods and an atypically early heat wave had been straining harvests and making life difficult.

From New York Times • Jul. 5, 2023

Meantime U.S. citizens in the stands, and there were many, had been straining their eyes for the silks of Billy Barton, the only U.S.-bred horse in the race.

From Time Magazine Archive

He had been straining his faith in himself to a prodigious tension, and the chord had suddenly snapped.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 117, July, 1867. by Various

Cal had no idea how hard he had been straining at his fetters, spurred by the mosquitoes.

From The Red Mustang by Stoddard, William O.