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To compose sonnets. "Strains that come almost to sonneting." Milton.

With a restrained voice or moderate force; in an undertone.

The act of sparing; moderation; restraint. [Obs.] Killing for sacrifice, without any spare. Holland.

e pressure of the wind, so that it can be more easily reefed or furled, or to lessen the strain. Spilling line (Naut.), a rope used for spilling, or dislodging, the wind from the belly of a sail. Totten.

being spontaneous, or acting from native feeling, proneness, or temperament, without constraint or external force. Romney Leigh, who lives by diagrams, And crosses not the spontaneities Of all his individual, personal life With formal universals. Mrs. Browning.

or disposition, or from a native internal proneness, readiness, or tendency, without constraint; as, a spontaneous gift or proportion.

a joint, ligament, or muscle, by sudden and excessive exertion, as by wrenching; to overstrain, or stretch injuriously, but without luxation; as, to sprain one's ankle.

To crack or split; to bend or strain so as to weaken; as, to spring a mast or a yard.

Said of a spar that has been cracked or strained.

A channel at the end of a deck to restrain the water.

long, steady sweep of the so-called "paddle" tried him almost as much as the breathless strain of the spurt. T. Hughes.

To strike; to beat; to crush. These cooks how they stamp and strain and grind. Chaucer.

ported by its own stem, and not dwarfed by grafting on the stock of a smaller species nor trained upon a wall or trellis. In France part of their gardens is laid out for flowers, others for fruits; some standards, some against walls. Sir W. Temple.

To become somewhat displaced or loosened; as, a rivet or a seam may start under strain or pressure. To start after, to set out after; to follow; to pursue. -- To start against, to act as a rival candidate against. -- To start for, to be a candidate for, as an office. -- To start up, to rise suddenly, as from a seat…

A contrivance for recording the speed of a railway train. Knight.

A regular stopping place in a stage road or route; a place where railroad trains regularly come to a stand, for the convenience of passengers, taking in fuel, moving freight, etc.

To hold from proceeding; to withhold; to restrain; to stop; to hold. Him backward overthrew and down him stayed With their rude hands grisly grapplement. Spenser. All that may stay their minds from thinking that true which they heartly wish were false. Hooker.

One who upholds or supports that which props; one who, or that which, stays, stops, or restrains; also, colloquially, a horse, man, etc., that has endurance, an a race.

s hedges, walls, etc. -- Steeple chaser, one who rides in a steeple chase; also, a horse trained to run in a steeple chase. -- Steeple engine, a vertical back-acting steam engine having the cylinder beneath the crosshead. -- Steeple house, a church. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.

Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style. The French are open, familiar, and talkative; the Italians stiff, ceremonious, and reserved. Addison.