How to Use under (a/the) strain in a Sentence

under (a/the) strain

idiom
Definition of under (a/the) strainnext
  • As tension builds, the rod will bow upward under the strain.
    — Bruce Barcott, Outside Online, 25 Aug. 2011
  • Bow, who was already suffering under the strain of the pressures of fame, barely made it through the trial.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 6 Feb. 2024
  • Then came the Tutsi genocide of 1994, when the park buckled further under the strain of refugees seeking food and wood for shelter.
    — Noo Saro-Wiwa, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 Oct. 2023
  • So why does James seem to be under strain at the office, needing to gin up serious sums of money, fast?
    — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 26 July 2022
  • Perhaps the most notable flaw was that the screw-eye hook hangers regularly ripped out under the strain of heavy stripers.
    — Jimmy Fee, Field & Stream, 13 Sep. 2023
  • One reason New York is under strain is because the city is required by law to give shelter to anyone who asks.
    — Karen Zraick, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2023
  • The Aztecs easily could have unraveled in Corvallis under the strain of a big crowd and a solid team.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Sep. 2023
  • The City of El Paso saw much of the migrant influx and officials and aid workers remain under strain to care for those still there.
    — Quinn Owen, ABC News, 21 Dec. 2022
  • The biggest problems occur in Texas, where the grid already struggles under the strain of extreme weather.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 12 Apr. 2023
  • Right to Shelter: One reason New York is under strain is because the city is required by law to give shelter to anyone who asks.
    — Karen Zraick, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2022
  • When drivers are under strain, the impact is also felt by those who rely on the system, Burton said.
    — Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 18 Feb. 2023
  • New York is under strain partly because of city rules requiring it to give shelter to anyone who asks.
    — Jesse McKinley, New York Times, 18 June 2023
  • Stress tests showed the mushroom material was less strong than suede, but fairly good at stretching under strain.
    — Leslie Nemo, Discover Magazine, 2 Feb. 2021
  • The combination allows many to participate in programs that pay them to shut down when a grid is under strain.
    — Michael Forsythe, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2023
  • But down below, debt markets are creaking under the strain of rising interest rates.
    — Matt Wirz, WSJ, 31 May 2023
  • But for the first time in 20 years, that wasn’t the case this year, suggesting some households are under strain from higher prices and may be relying on credit cards to maintain their spending.
    — Jonnelle Marte, Fortune, 15 May 2023
  • Such scenes of reunions, however, jarred with others of protests in some cities around China over the weekend, in a reminder of how the economy remains under strain.
    — Reuters, NBC News, 8 Jan. 2023
  • Omicron, however, is milder than previous variants and health care systems in most countries around the world aren’t under strain.
    — Fox News, 15 Feb. 2022
  • Power grids, buildings and cooling systems are under strain.
    — Eric Niiler, WSJ, 25 July 2023
  • The economy was already under strain, and the constant outflow of migrants only increased.
    — Tim Fernholz, Quartz, 8 June 2023
  • But the ties between South Korea’s chip companies and China are under strain from geopolitics.
    — Jin Yu Young, New York Times, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Women are at the helm of the four key government agencies overseeing housing for the first time in history at a time when the $45.3 trillion U.S. housing market is under strain.
    — Kinsey Crowley, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2023
  • Sebile also didn’t skimp on hooks, fitting each bait with high-end trebles that wouldn’t bend or break under the strain of brutes like peacock bass, barramundi, and giant snook.
    — Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 4 Jan. 2024
  • At current levels of warming, for instance, food production is starting to come under strain.
    — Brad Plumer, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Mar. 2023
  • Largely unnoticed is how much the entire migration route is under strain.
    — Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023
  • With the city’s budgetary coffers under strain, Adams’ office said the application rules holding up the $107 million must be modified.
    — Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 7 Mar. 2024
  • The public support that Zelensky now enjoys will fray under the strain of so many of his compatriots’ funerals.
    — Daniel Baer, Foreign Affairs, 5 Aug. 2022
  • Inflation jumped, too, as factories and ports buckled under the strain of rising consumer orders.
    — Paul Wiseman, Fortune, 21 Feb. 2024
  • The most recent developer to come under strain is Country Garden, which missed an interest payment last week and is now warning of a possible $7.6 billion loss in the first half of the year.
    — Bynicholas Gordon, Fortune, 18 Aug. 2023
  • The loss of the tiny weeklies in Rhode Island reflects a national trend of newspapers closing under the strain of revenue losses — and adding to a growing news desert that threatens democracy.
    — Amanda Milkovits, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Aug. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'under (a/the) strain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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