strain

The credit crunch caused by strains on the banking system .

A strain of madness runs deep in that family.

It assumes that centralized management was critical to dealing with issues caused by sudden population surges, like a strain on limited food supplies.

Though it may be difficult to imagine from a later perspective, a strain of critical opinion in the 1920s predicted that sound film would be a technical novelty that would soon fade from sight, just as had many previous attempts, dating well back before the First World War, to link images with recorded sound.

Meanwhile, the deadliest strains of the virus perished with their hosts as natural selection favored strains that could infect hosts but not kill them.

Genetic engineering also may provide a partial solution, as new strains of drought-resistant crops continue to be developed.

Cynthia was more than curious, but she relented when she noticed the strain in her daughter's face.

You know, things were a little strained when I left.

Resources will be further strained by new demands for housing.

These small fishes use their gill filaments to strain out the algae that dominate such areas.

I strained my back.

My guess is that you strained the metatarsal.

His brute action strained the ropes that bound Candy's ankles.

The dramatic expansion of the railroad network in the 1850s, however, strained the financing capacity of local governments and required a turn toward private investment, which had never been absent from the picture.

  Even more impressively, DNA analysis of the fungi suggests that the ants improve or modify the fungi by regularly swapping and sharing strains with neighbouring ant colonies.